Ice
by Kage3
Summary: My first fanfiction. COMPLETED The story of Rufus ShinRa's life as a young woman enters and changes his life drastically. But will she be enough to stop the horrible changes induced by Mako? Rufus and Tifa pairing, hints of Reno and Elena.
1. Hi! My Name Is

Author's note: Hello peoples. This is my first online-read-by-other-people- fanfic. Hope you enjoy! So now, be gentle and please R&R!!  
  
Disclaimer and legal crap: I don't own FF7 or any of the characters. Though I wouldn't mind owning that Rufus.. Heh.  
Ice (A different interpretation of Rufus)  
  
"Hi! What's your name? Mine's Tifa." Said a young girl of about 12. Her laughing cherry eyes glittered when she smiled, and the gentle breeze blew strands of long dark mahogany hair across her grinning face. Her hair was loosely tied back, near the end of the flowing ponytail.  
  
He merely glanced at her and promptly crossed his arms. "Rufus. What's it to you?" His blonde hair moved in the light breeze and fell across his flashing ice blue eyes.  
  
She giggled. Was she laughing at him? "What's so funny?" he demanded; only making her giggle louder. "Nothing, it's just that you act like my grandpa, all grumpy and acting like you don't care about the world. Why don't you act more like a kid? You can't be more that 13.." His expression didn't change. "I turned 12 a week ago. It's sorta why I'm here in Costa del Sol. How old are you?" She giggled, increasing his perplexed expression from her earlier laughing fit. "Sorry... Hehe. Um, I'm about to turn 13 in about 2 months. We came here to Costa del Sol to go to Golden Saucer. I've never been there." The boy grinned finally. "Ha. I've been there tons of times."  
  
She gave him a sidelong glance, smiling slightly. "You don't have to brag. When are you going?" He shrugged. "Whenever I want. I have a lifetime pass. I just have to walk up and flash the card." The girl's cherry eyes lit up. "Really?! Well, maybe I can go with you?" The icy pools widened. What would he do if anyone saw him with a girl? On the other hand, she was really pretty.. Her eyes were intriguing. He shrugged. "What, like today? I guess I could use some company.. So.. Ok." She smiled wide, her eyes glittering again, catching the sunlight. "Stay right here, I'll be right back. I have to tell my daddy and then we can go, ok?" He shrugged. "Whatever."  
  
The blonde waited for the brunette to come back. He stuffed his hands in his pockets. He barely knew this.. Tifa. Normally he wouldn't have answered anyone when they addressed him. He usually went to Costa del Sol to surf by himself. And occasionally go to Golden Saucer. What on earth possessed him to even acknowledge this girl? He rarely spoke to anyone after the incident that left him motherless. Tifa almost skipped back to him. Rufus quirked an eyebrow at her incessant optimism. "We can go now, k?"  
  
Rufus strolled off the air car and to the ticket woman and flashed his lifetime pass. "Alright, you can go," she began, smiling at the young couple. "Have a great time at Golden Saucer." Tifa giggled. Rufus sighed, tired of wondering what the intimidating giggle meant. "No offense or anything, but why do you keep giggling?" She shrugged. "I dunno, I think it's 'cause I don't really know you and this feels like a date. Not to mention I've never been here before." Rufus' eyes widened and he stepped back. "A.. a date?" She giggled again. "It's not really a date, silly. I just said it feels like one."  
  
He smiled, not realizing it. She smiled back. "That's the first time you've actually smiled that I've seen. Why don't you smile more often?" The smile quickly dropped off his face. "Oh come on, you act like someone just died." she said. He stopped and turned from her. So naïve.. But still, how could she know that just last month, he had witnessed his own mother's death at his father's hands. He had always feared his father for his mother's life, and now he was terrified for his own. His hatred for his father grew with each glance at a Shinra symbol.  
  
Hell. Tifa wouldn't know or understand the horror of it all. To the public's knowledge, the first lady died in a tragic car accident, President Shinra had feigned it well. "Did I say something wrong?" Rufus' young companion asked innocently, shaking him from his thoughts. He shook his head. "No, no, it's just that my mother died a month ago." Tifa gasped and put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't know.."  
  
More apologizing. Many people did, they knew what a good woman Rachael del Vine Shinra was; a kind, loving wife and mother. So unlike her husband. Their marriage had been pre-arranged by their parents, to build onto their already rich families. "It's ok, I'll live." Tifa didn't let him finish. She started to pull him toward the café.  
  
So, what do ya think so far? It's not much; trust me there's a lot more, I just need to type more at a time. The two might not be totally true to their roles just yet, but remember, they're still kids. Like I said, be gentle! ^^ R&R!  
  
~KAGE 


	2. Tearful Memory

Took me long enough. Sowwy! Trying a new way to write the story. Well, here's chapter two, enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer and legal crap: I don't own FF7 or any of the characters.  
  
Chapter 2 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The café was rather empty, considering it was close to lunchtime. "So, Rufus, tell me about yourself. You've been awfully quiet all morning."  
  
He shrugged. "I'm always like this. What do you want to know?"  
  
She smiled. "Anything. You look like you could use someone to talk to, and I'm all ears. I'm curious to know what has got you so down. So, are you gonna let me in on your secret?"  
  
He paused. ".. Well..." He didn't like to talk about himself or his history, but for some reason, he felt like he could tell her just about anything. But why?  
  
The brunette grinned. "Come on, you don't have to be scared." She teased. The ending word of her sentence jumped at him.  
  
He flinched. "I'm not scared!" The blonde grimaced at her. "Do you even know who I am?"  
  
Tifa shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, you're Rufus."  
  
"Yes, Rufus Shinra."  
  
"So?" She tugged at a loose strand of hair.  
  
He couldn't believe this girl wasn't scared of him. Just the name Shinra made others cringe.  
  
"So what's it like being rich? I bet you're spoiled rotten in that big mansion you live in." She queried.  
  
Rufus' sapphire eyes went wide. "You mean you're not scared?"  
  
She shrugged. "Of what? Why would I be scared? You're a normal human being just like me, right? Not some kind of cyborg thing?"  
  
"Cyborg?"  
  
"Yeah, your eyes look weird. Well, not weird, its just that, they glow."  
  
He couldn't help but smile at the girl's naive nature.  
  
"You know, you should smile more, you look better when you're happy." She claimed, sipping on her soda straw.  
  
This shocked him. Tifa had to be the strangest female he ever met. It was as if she didn't care about who he was, or how much money or power he had. She treated him, well, as an equal. Usually people couldn't look him in the face after they'd found out who he was. This fiery-eyed girl seemed to pierce his soul and melt his own icy eyed stare.  
  
"Now tell me about your life!" she exclaimed, somewhat demanding, yet gently; not like his father who seemed to yell all the time. "I have a question, and I hope you don't think me rude. but did your mom really die in a car wreck? I just don't think it fits."  
  
"Well." he paused. "No." What the hell am I doing?  
  
Tifa gasped. "I knew it!" She watched him take a deep breath.  
  
"My father killed my mother." He saw his friend gasp again, this time out of horror. "Yeah, last month, during that thunderstorm. They were having another one of their arguments. The kind where they'd yell at the top of their lungs. The kind where father would hit mother. She decided to bring up the subject of his mistresses, not even looking afraid of his reaction. He brought out his gun. They traded some nasty words and names. Mother was miserable, she didn't care whether she died or not, as long as it would get her out of the ShinRa lifestyle. She knew the family company's uses and abuses of planetary resources, slowly killing it. She never wanted to be a part of that." Rufus let his story flood out.  
  
Tifa sat quietly on the other side of the table, listening intently to his past. She had no idea that his life was this bad. No wonder he wasn't a very happy-looking child.  
  
The boy continued. "I think the only person she could truly talk to was me. She trusted no one else. Father knew she didn't care to live, but he also knew she feared my life above all else. So he threatened that he'd kill me and use one of his other children outside the business as an heir. That's all I am to father. My mother got angry and attacked father. That was the last thing he expected. In his surprise, he fired two shots. One hit my mother dead on. The other grazed my side."  
  
"Father stood there, looking down at my mother, not positive of what he'd done. He dropped the gun and ran from the room, scared of what the media would do to him. I crawled to my mother, the pain in my side more than I'd ever endured; it felt like fire licking at my skin. Mother was still alive, but barely, handing on to life by a thread. Blood drained from her chest and mouth; she coughed, trying to form words. Her final words." he paused, his eyes wide as if he were witnessing it all over again. "She said, 'I'm sorry Rufus, to leave you here all alone. I have faith in you, don't be like your father. remember. I love you.' and then her hand, holding my own, went limp. The blood from her wounds mixed with mine. That was the first night I'd cried in a long time." He looked at Tifa. Her own cheeks were damp with tears; her eyes were red and puffy.  
  
"Oh my God, Rufus. I'm so sorry. Here I thought you had it good, getting everything you want. Instead, your life sucks." She said suddenly, surprising him.  
  
Rufus smiled, not a happy smile, but a depressed attempt.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Well, finally there's the second chapter. I am REAALLLY sorry I didn't update for so long. HOMEWORK SHOULD DIE!! Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up sooner than I did this one. Yay, Rufus finally spilled his guts on the past. Sad, ne? Pu-leeze read and review!! Till next time. ^^ 


	3. The Chase Scene

Author's note: Hey, I got another chapter up. I'm trying to hurry. I promise as soon as school gets out, I won't take so long to update. Enjoy! Disclaimer and legal crap: I don't own FF7 or any of the characters.  
  
Chapter 3 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"I know how you feel. My mom died a couple of years ago, and I really felt bad. But ya know what? I found out that if you keep your head up and be optimistic, or at least *look* happy, no matter what happens, something good will come to you. Not to mention it annoys the person trying to get you down.." Tifa smiled at him. "So that's the reason you're so quiet?"  
  
He nodded. "That and the fact that there is NO one to talk to at the mansion. Well, no one except Vincent. He listens to me. That is when he's not drooling over Lucretzia. Also, we're about to move out of Nibleheim..." The young boy shook his head so that his hair moved from his eyes. "I can't believe I just told you my mom's story."  
  
Tifa wiped the remnants of her tears away and shrugged. "People find me easy to talk to. Just remember, if you ever need someone to talk to, come find me, ok?" She watched him nod, and she smiled at him, her eyes glittering again against the fireworks of the amusement park.  
  
Her smile reminded him of his own mother's loving smile, warm, and it made him feel safe. He grinned back at her. Her personality changed from immature 12 year old to motherly best friend in 10 minutes. To think that he had only met her this morning. He felt as though a ton of weight had been removed from his shoulders now that he revealed what happened to his mother and his true feelings about it. "Thanks for listening." "Anytime." She replied to him. Suddenly, Rufus felt a premonition of something horrible to come. A wave of fear washed over him as he watched three armed and dangerous ShinRa soldiers advance toward the café toward him.  
  
Tifa looked behind her, to where Rufus was staring wide-eyed. "Uh- oh, are they here for you?" He nodded slowly to her. "I don't know if they've seen me yet." She grabbed his hand surprising him out of his fear zone. "Follow me, come on." She said, making him drop to the floor, crawling through the jungle of legs, tables and chairs towards the entrance. They shielded themselves with the tablecloths of each table they passed under.  
  
Rufus grumbled the entire way about having to crawl, especially on the café's dusty floor, but froze when he saw the soldiers' boots, heels clicking against the cold tile floor. Tifa continued to pull him, urging him to keep going. "Almost there." she whispered. He followed her close and soon they were home free, walking away from the café.  
  
"They'll be after us soon so be on guard for blue suits." He half heard her; he was busy dusting his hands and knees off. "Gross, I can't believe I just crawled on an amusement park's café floor."  
  
She grinned at him. "Amazing, isn't it?" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Chocobo racing? Why are we here?" Rufus whined. Tifa giggled. "Oh shut up, we went on that stupid roller coaster six times, I figure you can stand being bored for at least ten minutes while I look at the chococbos.  
  
He sighed, and then smiled at her. "Tch, fair enough." Tifa looked up at the screen, unmoving and mouth gaping, amazed at the speed and agility of the large birds. Rufus felt embarrassed standing by her; she looked so ridiculous. He looked around for a bit, then stopped short when he saw three men in blue again. He ran back to Tifa, knowing they had seen him this time. "Tifa... Tifa, they're back!!" He shook her, but she pushed his arm away.  
  
"Hold on a sec, Rufus."  
  
The feeling of fear washed over him again as they advanced quickly toward them. He kept poking and prodding Tifa, hoping she'd move, but she was not about to move from the spot. He couldn't just leave her there. When they realized that he was the real Rufus, they moved toward them faster, calling his name. Finally, Rufus shook Tifa away from the screen and turned her towards the soldiers.  
  
Her eyes widened, and she was just about to turn and run but stopped when she saw the first two soldiers trip over something and the third tripped on them, creating a dog pile. It was a rather hilarious sight. Tifa burst out laughing, and Rufus couldn't help but chuckle. A red headed boy jumped up from behind the pile of soldiers. "Hey, watch where you're going you goons!" He looked down at his hand and a large grin spread across his face. "Cool, a quarter!!" The soldiers had tripped over the boy as he was picking up his treasure.  
  
Tifa looked at the redhead ".Reno?" He looked up, wondering who called his name. He spotted the girl and waved. "Hey Tifa! What brings you to Golden Saucer?" Tifa saw the pile of guards start to squirm, she knew they were coming back to their senses, Rufus could tell too. They motioned for Reno to follow them and they went off to find another hiding spot.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"So those guys are after you?" Reno asked the blonde. "Yeah, they want me to move to smelly old Junon. The fishmonger town."  
  
Reno shrugged. "I'm sure they meant the bigger city on top of the Junon village." Rufus huddled on the bed, grasping his knees to chest. Costa del Sol was just fine, why couldn't he stay here?  
  
Tifa cut in. "Well, we might as well not worry right now, I don't think they'll check here. Not many kids would come here, you know? So, Reno. What are you doing here in Golden Saucer? I know you can't afford to come here." Reno sniffed and gave a pouty lip. "Yeah, and who says? Besides, you're not exactly rich and famous yourself."  
  
"Yeah, but my new friend here, Rufus, got me in free!" she bragged. Rufus blushed and looked down. Reno laughed. "Looks like someone has the hots for ya Teef." Rufus' cheeks burned, he was blushing so hard. "Nuh-uh!! I just thought it would be nice to have someone to talk to."  
  
Reno put up his hands. "Whoa, chill out. By the way, your whole name wouldn't happen to be Rufus Shinra, would it?" Rufus nodded slowly.  
  
"So that's why those dudes were after you!"  
  
Tifa laughed at Reno's comment. "Well, not the brightest crayon in the box now, are we?" she said, giggling.  
  
Rufus, who was still in the corner, chuckled. "Well, Reno, now you know my story, let's hear yours." Reno puffed his chest out. "As a matter of fact, I was born and raised in Midgar. We moved to Nibelheim and that's where I met Tifa."  
  
Tifa giggled again, though in a slightly mean tone that kids sometime get. "You forgot to mention that you were kicked out of your apartment, that was in the SLUMS of Midgar, and that you moved in with your granny in Nibelheim."  
  
Reno deflated slightly and took on a dejected look. "Gee, thanks. Way to boost my ego." He said, glaring at her in a playful way. She merely smirked and continued her verbal beating. "No problem. I figure you do enough boosting of your own ego."  
  
Rufus chuckled again, though surprised at the comments Tifa had made. Her personality changed in a heartbeat; you'd never know how she'd be feeling. The tall blonde boy looked over at his newest friend. "Hey, Reno?" "Hm?" "Thanks for letting us stay in here for a while. Thank your parents for me too. K?"  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Back on the beach, Rufus and Tifa sat, watching the sun set across the ocean; both quiet, both thinking deeply. Finally, Tifa broke the silence, and all Rufus could do was stare into her wine colored eyes. "Rufus, I know you don't like me, but thank you for taking me to Golden Saucer today, I really did have a lot of fun." She said quickly. Before he could say anything back, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. Rufus' heart skipped a beat. No one had ever done that before, he was speechless.  
  
Tifa smiled that big beautiful smile and blushed, quickly looking down as if embarrassed that she had just shown her feelings.  
  
He put a hand to his cheek, eyes wide. His first kiss from a girl. He started to explain to her that what she said wasn't true; that he felt different when he was around her, like the happiness that had been gone for so long was back, and so many other things. But before he got a word out, he was lifted from the ground in a rude manner, legs kicking in the air. "Hey! Lemme go you creeps! I don't want to go to Junon!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, squirming and looking for a way out of the soldier's grip.  
  
Tifa's terrified expression caught Rufus' eye. "Rufus!" she screamed when another guard picked her up. "And who do we have here, master Rufus? We saw her with you at the Golden Saucer today, so she must be special if she's still around you now. Heh, she's kinda cute, too bad you can't take her back to Junon with you as a servant or maid or something. Now," he dropped Tifa back to the sand; she let out a painful yelp. "It's time to go, fun and games are over. No more hide and seek. We're boarding the ship for Junon tomorrow."  
  
Rufus kicked and flailed, but nothing worked. He looked back to the girl he'd just spent the day with. "I'm so sorry Tifa." he yelled back to her; she was holding her side, tears of pain and fear rolled down her cheeks. The terrified look still played across her face; the same look his mother gave when his father threatened to kill him. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Authors note: HOORAY! The third chapter is up. Don't worry, lots more to come, and hopefully at a faster rate, too. * Sings* Schoooooooool's out for sum-maaa!! Hehe, little bit of a cliffhanger, ain't it? This part was long too. Plus, I had to add Reno-chan. He's SUCH a vital character! 


	4. The Eyes Have It

Author's note: Yep here's another chapter. I'm getting these up, slowly but surely. I WILL NOT GIVE UP!! Anywhoo, enjoy the next exciting chapter of Ice. *Smile*  
  
Disclaimer: No, FF7 is not mine. *Curses slightly under breath* Darn the lucky little ****s that *do* own it. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The young man sat up, sweat pouring down his face. He couldn't believe that dream still made him react this way. He hadn't ever seen the young girl again, why did something that happened 3 years ago still haunt him so? The dream happened regularly, almost every two months; Rufus could almost predict when it would come. He wondered where that girl was now, and if she even remembered him. He couldn't figure out why he couldn't get her out of his head. He untangled himself from the twisted sheets; he'd obviously been struggling again. More shivers ran down his spine as his feet hit the cold floor.  
  
He padded to the bathroom and turned on the lights, wincing as his eyes adjusted to the sudden change. The mirror reflected the effects of the dream. His white t-shirt clung to his skin, almost see-though with cold sweat, he was still breathing hard. He had slightly purple bags under his eyes, a mark of the restless sleep he'd just encountered. Shaking his head and chuckling, he turned on the faucet and splashed water onto his face. The cold liquid soothed his burning complexion. The young vice president sighed, knowing that the dream would just keep occurring, not about to let him sleep decently. One look at the clock told him it was going to be a long night.  
  
He stared long and hard at the face looking back at him through the mirror again, looking at his blonde, blue eyed, sixteen-year-old self, and shook his head again. Her image was burned into his brain for the rest of the night, and he knew he was going to be thinking about her whether he wanted to or not. He wondered how she was; she'd be 15 now, about to be 16. He had no doubt in his mind that she was just as pretty or prettier than she was back then.  
  
Chuckling again, Rufus realized that he'd stayed out of the news a lot lately, she'd probably forgotten about him. He put a hand to his cheek, remembering the sensation of her soft lips on his skin, his first kiss. He never got to tell her how he truly felt. Where did she say that she lived? Was it Nibelheim? Yes it was, she had said that she'd seen him up in their old mansion. A thought crossed the young man's mind. He was going to have to go to Nibelheim in a few days, to survey the land for a new reactor. Could she possibly still live there? He decided that he'd check it out when he got there; it wouldn't hurt to look.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Rufus sat in the helicopter, half bored from the cross-continent trip, half excited that he was minutes away from finding the girl that graced his dreams. They began to land; his heart started racing; something it hadn't done since Tifa kissed him. How could someone he barely knew do this to him? This emotion had never come on this strong.  
  
Soon they landed and checked into the hotel, they wouldn't start surveying till the next day since the equipment took longer to transport. He still had the rest of the day to wander around. He changed into some comfortable clothes, it was a bit warmer here than in Junon than he remembered, and told one of the guards that he'd be "out" all day.  
  
Rufus walked out of the hotel and scanned the homely little town. It looked much different looking at it from where he stood now, opposed to his window overlooking everything. There wasn't much to do in Nibelheim; a café, a few shops, it was all like Rufus remembered from when he'd lived there. The ShinRa mansion still stood, though dilapidated and old.  
  
He began walking toward the café, looking all around him except in front. Due to his not looking where he was going, he abruptly bumped into someone standing in his way; he almost tripped. "Hey, watch it you goon!" Dusting himself off, the word caught his memory. Goon? He looked at whom he almost tripped over. Yes, the fiery unkempt red hair and emerald green eyes matched his memory's description. "Reno?"  
  
The other boy looked up. "Yeah?" His sunglasses were the only things keeping his long tresses out of his eyes.  
  
Rufus chuckled. Knowing Reno, he probably didn't remember whom he was talking to. "We met a long time ago, you probably don't remember me."  
  
The redhead looked him up and down. "Hmm, you do look familiar, Rufus." he said, grinning. Rufus grinned back. Reno beamed. "Can you believe it? I just found five gil!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"So, how's Tifa?" Rufus asked, settling down on one of Reno's couches while Reno himself sat on a mismatched recliner.  
  
"Dude, how'd I know you were gonna ask that question?" The redhead replied, grinning. "Actually, she's fine. *Very* fine, if you know what I mean. She's like, the most sought after girl here in Nibelheim."  
  
Rufus' face fell when he heard this, but he wasn't surprised. "Do you know where she is?"  
  
Reno shrugged. "Probably at home, with a line of wannabe boyfriends breaking down her door."  
  
Rufus looked up. "Wannabe?"  
  
His friend nodded. "Yup, ya know, she's waiting for someone special." He jumped up. "Holy frijoles!! That reminds me, she's coming for lunch!" Reno ran for the kitchen, leaving Rufus confused with his thoughts.  
  
"Hmm, I wonder what kind of 'someone special' she's waiting for?" He felt strange sitting in the living room alone, so he followed Reno's path to the kitchen. "Hey, Reno, I was wondering." he stopped short when he saw that Reno was on the phone. He mouthed "Sorry" and stood there.  
  
The redhead looked up. "Yeah, hold on. Oh uh, hey. Why don't you stay for lunch? I was just ordering a pizza, why don't you go and watch TV? I don't know where the remote is, sorry, you'll have to get up and change the channel manually. Oh, and if you need the bathroom, it's down hall, second room to your right." Reno watched Rufus shrug and walk to the living room. When he knew the blonde was out of earshot, he began speaking again. "Yeah, sorry Teef. My surprise guest it here. Why don't you stop by for lunch? We're having pizza."  
  
The voice on the other end sounded perturbed. "Reno Dawson, if you're trying to hook me up again."  
  
The seventeen year old laughed. "Tifa, would I do that to you?" he said innocently as he could.  
  
"Yes." The answer came indignantly.  
  
Reno grinned. "You're not going to forgive me for trying, are you? Tch, I swear, I can't do anything right." His chuckle was the only thing that told Tifa he was joking.  
  
"Fine, I'll come, but if you try to make me go out with this person, I promise you, I'll strangle your scrawny neck myself." She laughed.  
  
Reno grinned into his sarcastic words. "Yeah, love you too." He hung up the phone and looked up to see Rufus leaning against the doorframe, an eyebrow raised at him.  
  
"You got something going with the pizza guy?" he teased.  
  
Reno shook his head and laughed. "No, uh, actually that was my mom, she called right as I was about to hang up with the pizza guy. She says 'hi'."  
  
Rufus shook his head. "Whatever. Look, I was going to tell you that I found your remote, along with some other really interesting things. Such as, ten gil in change?"  
  
His friend scratched his head. "Well how about that. Thanks bud, I think I have enough now to pay for the pizza! Now go find yourself some government funded television."  
  
"Ha ha, funny." *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tifa hung up the phone. Special guest? Reno had put her on hold to talk to someone; she had heard a male voice. Something was familiar about it, but she couldn't be sure who it was. She changed into some nice clothes, out of her workout pants. She had taken up martial arts about 3 years before, after she had gotten over the shock of the abduction of someone she had a slight crush on then: Rufus ShinRa.  
  
She had taken up martial arts to make herself tougher; she was totally helpless when the soldiers took Rufus. She wondered if he liked it in Junon, or if he was even all right. She imagined what he'd look like now, taller, yet his golden blonde hair would still fall in front of his bright ice blue eyes. "Snap out of it Teef, it's not like he's going to pop out of no where to visit Nibelheim to see you. He probably doesn't even remember me. Not to mention he'd probably got loads of rich, beautiful girls throwing themselves at him to go out with him." She opened the door to her house and started towards Reno's. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Rufus almost jumped when he heard the doorbell. His heart started racing again, his insides felt like they were squirming.  
  
Reno popped up. "She's here! Finally, the *pizza* got here before she did." He ran for the door, leaving Rufus on the couch.  
  
The feeling he had before increased dramatically. He was sure that anyone within a 2-mile radius could hear his wildly beating heart. "I wonder if she'll remember me?" he thought, shaking his head. "What with all the potential boyfriends in the town banging on her door at all times of the day, she probably wouldn't."  
  
"Hey, Teef, welcome to Chateau de Reno, House of Looooove." Reno's voice carried from the hall, getting closer to the living room.  
  
An audible giggle followed Reno's remark. "Reno. Remember what I said before."  
  
"What, your death threat? Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. But there's someone I want you to meet." The redhead walked into the living room, winking at Rufus.  
  
Rufus tried to relax. He saw a female form behind Reno; he swore he was going to explode.  
  
Reno stepped to the side and let the two's eyes meet.  
  
Tifa stood, stock still, blinking, not believing her eyes. It couldn't be. Could it??  
  
Rufus stood up, amazed. She was beautiful. Her long mahogany hair was still in that loose ponytail; her beautiful wine colored eyes searched his six-foot frame for evidence of his identity. Her body was developed beautifully for 16; she had a curvy figure to die for. Her fiery eyes melted his own icy pools. She had changed so much, but hadn't changed at all.  
  
Tifa still stood amazed. This couldn't be who she thought it was. If he was, he was better looking than she had ever imagined. He stood about 6 foot, Tifa herself only 5'5", she had to look up at him. His eyes seemed to shine brighter, their blue depths swallowed her, and like she imagined, his silky blonde hair fell softly across his eyes. Apparently she hadn't been the only one working out, she could see his muscles through the almost tight fitting tee shirt. She couldn't help but giggle at him when he jammed his hands into his pockets, and his face turned a pinker tone.  
  
"That giggle." he smiled, but only slightly. "Tifa?" he ventured, holding out one hand, the other still stuffed into his khakis pocket, expecting nothing more than a handshake.  
  
She giggled again, now knowing for sure that this was the Rufus she'd been with at the Golden Saucer. She ran to him and threw her arms around his torso, pulling him into a friendly hug.  
  
He didn't expect the hug, and only put his free arm around her. She looked up at him, grinning. "What, are you too good to hug an old friend, Rufus ShinRa?" Smiling wider than he had in a long time, he pulled the other hand out of his pocket and embraced her warmly.  
  
Reno rudely cleared his throat, ruining the moment. "ER-EM. Pizza!" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Well, that's it for this chapter, Hehe, finally they meet again!!! Whee! Well, I am getting these up a LITTLE faster. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, PLEASE read and review!!  
  
~Kage 


	5. Catching Up

A/n: Here's another chapter for your entertainment. I think I *am* getting these up faster, and I'm trying hard to do so. But before I begin, I'd like to clear up an error I made in the second chapter when Rufus tells Tifa his past. I know some of you might think that it was waaaaaaaaaay early in the story to give such a detailed description of a horrible memory like that to an almost complete stranger. But I also mentioned that Tifa has an air of total trustworthiness (is that a word?) and that Rufus really needed to get it out of his system. He felt like he could tell her anything, and he wasn't really going to tell all of it, but really, once you start a story like that, can you really stop to think of a nicer way to tell it? I apologize for the mix-up, and I thank you all for the constructive criticism. And thanks for not yelling at me! I luv ya for it!  
  
Disclaimer: Um, I don't own a scrap of FF7, but once my plan to take over the world commences, that will be the first thing I go after!! Mwahahaha!! Not. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"So, Rufus what have you been up to these past four years?"  
  
Rufus shrugged. "Not much, mostly paper work from everything my father does in Midgar. My training for presiding over ShinRa starts next month. They say I have to learn the 'Basics of leadership', or so father says. I'm so sick of him."  
  
Tifa nodded. "Yeah, no offence, but your dad's company is starting to scare me. It used to be just an electric company. I think they're starting to assume more power. Now they built a plate over the slums of Midgar, like they're separating the upper class from the lower class or something. That city is having enough trouble seeing the stars due to the smog from the reactors." She replied. "I hope you change all that. You will, won't you?" Rufus nodded. She stared at him. "Promise?"  
  
"Sure, I promise." He smiled at her persistence.  
  
"Hey, Rufus?" Reno ventured. "I don't suppose you could give me a job at ShinRa, could you?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "See, money's kind of tight, Dad's gone and Mom's looking for another part-time job. No one here wants to hire me cause they think I'm lazy. Could ya help me out?"  
  
His friend shrugged. "Whatever, no problem. We could use some more guards." He eyed Tifa's sudden pale face at the word 'guards'. "You know, good ones. I've seen them; they feed and pay them very well. If that doesn't suit you, I think SOLDIER is still looking for a few good men." He couldn't help but quirk an eyebrow at Tifa's paleness take a turn for the worse. She actually looked like she would strangle someone.  
  
Reno ignored Tifa's reaction and jumped for joy. "Sweet! Thanks, Ruf, you rock!"  
  
"Ruf? Anyway, so Tifa what have *you* been doing for the last four years?" Rufus queried.  
  
She shrugged off her sudden pensiveness and the color returned to her cheeks. "Actually, I've taken up martial arts."  
  
Reno nodded and poked Rufus. "Yeah, it's getting to where she can almost kick *my* ass." He whispered to Rufus, who cracked a smile.  
  
"What do you mean 'almost', Reno?" She playfully glared at him.  
  
He answered her with a smirk, followed by sticking his tongue out at her.  
  
"Are you gonna tell is your story or not?" Rufus directed at Reno.  
  
The latter sighed, unusually depressed looking. "Well, lessee, when I turned 14, my dad decided I was man enough to hold over his position as head of the household and ran off to join ShinRa so we could be 'rich'. Apparently he never made it, 'cause we haven't seen hide or hair of him for the last 3 years. Mom thinks that he was embarrassed that he didn't make it. I say that ShinRa's Hojo got a hold of him. See, dad was obsessed with Mako. It's more than just a power source: it can enhance human ability. Hojo realized that, but President ShinRa never gave him the budget for the research. Dad had a lot of the research done. I think Hojo got him; stole the research and either killed him or used him as a lab rat." Reno paused, recalling everything.  
  
"3 years ago, about 4 months after dad disappeared from sight, I saw an article in the paper saying Hojo had a new break through and that they were starting up a new regiment for ShinRa: 'SOLDIER'. These men are enhanced with Mako. Just enough is awesome for a man. Too much can turn you into a mindless shell. I guessing dad was the first experimental 'trainee'. Hojo must've gotten a huge bonus after finally proving to President ShinRa that Mako is good for more than one cause. Not to mention more power for ShinRa. Boys from all over the place are running to join SOLDIER." He finished, shaking his head.  
  
Tifa involuntarily sighed, Rufus' expression dropped to a scowl. "Hojo never was my favorite employee of dad's. Maybe when you come and work in Junon we'll pay Hojo a visit and question him about that, sound good?"  
  
Reno grinned. "Great minds think alike." He said.  
  
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Tifa was furious when she found out that they had come to see if Nibelheim was good enough for a reactor. "We don't need a reactor, we have plenty of power from the mountain reactor as it is! Besides, what if it blows up? Then what good would it do us??"  
  
"Tifa, calm down! We probably won't even build one. OK? Dad sent me over here to *survey*. 'Make sure the place is rich enough in Mako to build one.' Is what he said. I signed on for the team because I was tired of paperwork, not to mention I wanted to see if you still lived here." Rufus said truthfully.  
  
Tifa went from red-mad to red-embarrassed. A smile curved the corner of her mouth.  
  
"Nice save. I think she was about to bring out her gloves." Reno whispered and gave a sigh of relief when he realized she didn't hear him.  
  
"I didn't even think you remembered me. I had to find out if you did, and apologize for the soldier who dropped you. I'm sorry I couldn't do anything about it back then. If it were now, it would have never happened." He looked at her with sad blue eyes.  
  
She smiled at him. "Oh don't worry about that. But I didn't think you remembered me either. You've managed to stay out of public sight lately."  
  
"Yeah, dad doesn't think I'm ready to be publicized yet."  
  
Tifa suddenly looked at the clock. "Crap! I totally forgot I have lessons today!! Uh, Rufus, get my number from Reno, and call me around 5. Talk to ya later!" She ran from the room, leaving Rufus and Reno openmouthed.  
  
"Bye to you too, Teef." Reno laughed. "She gets up and goes pretty quick. You have to catch her if you can."  
  
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A/n: Yes I know, it is a short chapter, but I'm working on it! Trust me, there will be plenty more! I'm going to bring in a hated character!! Any questions? Please feel free to ask me in a review, and you just might get to be featured in a author's answer before the next chapter gets started! Alrighty people, I'm outta here for right now, please read and review! 


	6. Unwanted Visitor

A/n: Alrighty then, here is, chapter 6. Yay me! Sorry for the ultra super long delay. Try as I may, I cannot find a suitable excuse for my laziness. At least I put it up at all. I apologize again. FORGIVE ME!! *Puppy eyes* I wove you. Please read and review!!  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own FF7, or the characters, Mako, etc. I do own the story line. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Rufus plopped onto his bed, Reno's words echoing in his head. "You gotta catch her if you can..." He smiled. "Catching her shouldn't be a problem. It's keeping up with her that's hard. Not to mention dad would kill me, he'd never allow me to be seen with a 'common girl'." He said to himself. But Tifa was far from common. She was a whole different kind of girl compared to the flirts and gossips that he was used to in Junon. Scarlet for example, which was training to be a weapons developer in the Jr. ShinRa training program, had tried like crazy to catch Rufus' eye by wearing less and less. She was nearing her 17th birthday and normally went after older men, but Rufus *was* the son and heir to the billion dollar company that was ShinRa. She was after money *and* power, and he had both, or would soon anyway.  
  
The only attractive thing about her was her womanly curves. Her shifty gray eyes hid under sickly green (yes green) bangs. She had tried to dye her hair blonde, but something went terribly wrong. Her hair had been neon green for sometime, and after a few washings, turned that icky green color it was now. Rufus thought it was funnier when it was neon. Now it just looked gross. Another main reason he'd left for Nibleheim was to get away from her.  
  
The young vice president yawned. He hadn't been able to sleep the night before out of pure excitement, and was about to take a power nap before he called Tifa back. He closed his sapphire blue eyes and drifted off into a light sleep.  
  
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Tifa hopped from the shower and grabbed a towel to quickly run to the phone. "Hello?" she answered, trying not to sound as rushed as she really was.  
  
"Hey Teef, what's up?" a familiar voice asked.  
  
Her excited expression turned into one of disappointment. "Oh, its just you, Reno." She said with a smirk.  
  
"Heh, love you too, Teef. I just wanted to hear your reaction." His chuckle rumbled over the phone.  
  
"Yeah, what are you doing tying up the phone line? I have an important call coming." She said indignantly.  
  
"Really? Why did you take so long to answer the phone? Usually you have 'important phone calls' by the 2nd ring. EH?" Reno gave a sly snicker.  
  
Tifa rolled her eyes. "I was in the shower, Reno..."  
  
"Oh really? I-"  
  
"Reno, shut up. I'm gonna get dressed, I'll call you back later, ok?" she said impatiently.  
  
"All right, all right, I can take a hint. Talk to you later."  
  
"Bye." She hung up the phone and sighed, smiling. Reno was like her big brother. Sometimes he was cool, sometimes he was just stupid. But he always looked out for her.  
  
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Though he had his eyes closed, he knew someone was in the room, staring at him; someone was leaning right over him. He felt the breath of the person on his skin.  
  
A familiar perfume permeated the room, too much for Rufus' taste. The kind of perfume that gave one a headache. And that's just what Rufus was gaining, a disgustingly sweet, heavily perfumed headache. He was nearing the edge, ready to grab this person by the throat. But the final straw was when he felt a pair of lips blowing gently into his ear. He groaned, not bothering to open his eyes. "Scarlet, what the hell are you doing here?"  
  
A shrill laugh shattered the drowsing silence. "Kya haha. How'd you know it was me, Ruffie-poof? I bet you're *glad* to see me." She ran a finger under his chin.  
  
"No one ordered nor allowed you to come. I order you to go back home!" He narrowed his blue eyes at her.  
  
Scarlet merely smirked and straightened to full posture. "Tough luck, Ruffie, you're just gonna have to live with me. See, I completed my weapon development course and training this week. I am now a certified employee. Your father called me here 'just in case' there's a rebel faction around."  
  
Rufus rolled his eyes and pulled his pillow over his head. "Dammit."  
  
"Ruffie, why don't you show me around town?" She asked him, smirking.  
  
He knew what she meant, and he was not about to walk around town with her, looking like a couple. He threw the pillow at her. "Hell no. I've got better things to do with my time. You're not even supposed to be here. I've already made plans." He looked at the clock, which read 4:30. He got up. "Stay away from me. I don't need you spying." He said coldly, walking out the door.  
  
Naturally, Scarlet began to follow him when she thought he wasn't looking.  
  
Rufus came to Tifa's door and knocked. Tifa soon opened the door, smile wide across her face. "Hi! I though you were gonna call?"  
  
He gave her an uncomfortable smile. "Uh, can I come in?"  
  
"Sure... what's wrong?" She shut the door behind him.  
  
"Well, this girl Scarlet, she won't leave me the hell alone! She works with me and she wasn't even supposed to be here. She has this thing for me because of my money, and she won't stay away from me. She thinks I'm interested in her." Rufus explained to Tifa, who was looking out the window at his stalker.  
  
"Ew. I don't blame you for wanting to get away." She giggled. "What do you think she'd do if she saw you with another girl?"  
  
Rufus gave her a confused glance. "Huh?"  
  
Tifa giggled again. She opened the door a crack and pushed Rufus onto a nearby couch.  
  
"What are -?"  
  
"Shh. She'll hear you. Just follow along." She sat on his lap, facing him, and looked deep into his eyes. She also wrapped her arms around his neck.  
  
Rufus, who was *not* uncomfortable, but still clueless on what to do, rested his hands around her waist.  
  
Tifa chuckled in his ear. "You can at least *act* like you're enjoying yourself."  
  
Her continuous giggling made him smile, but a knock on the door made him suddenly realize how good a scheme this was.  
  
"Hello?" Scarlet's voice came from the front door. "I know you're in here."  
  
Tifa went into action. She began running her fingers through his silky blonde hair, roaming over his ear and jaw line with her lips. Rufus just had to sit there and enjoy it. Her other wrist rested on his shoulder; thumb tracing his face, running over his eyebrow, cheekbone, caressing his cheek.  
  
Heart beating wildly out of his chest, he saw Scarlet peek in, a grin spread on his lips. The look on her face was something he'd pay limitless amounts of money just to see again. Rufus' confidence skyrocketed as he pulled Tifa to him, looked into her eyes, smirked and pressed his lips to hers.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/n: Well, what do you think? Tell me! Let me know! I'm thinking of giving up since I can't friggin keep up with updating. Tell me if I should, ne? Now, about the story. Getting a little warm in there, isn't it Ruffie? LOL. I hate Scarlet therefore I made her annoying. Oh! I forgot to ask in the last chapter, what did you all think of my little explanation of Reno's dad and Mako? I'm thinking of developing that a little more. Anywhoo, I'm already starting a new chapter, so don't give up on me yet!  
  
~Kage 


	7. Cat Fight!

Chapter 7  
  
*A/N: Hey guys, this time I *do* have a plausible excuse for not getting this chapter up so fast. We moved our office out of our house, and well, they disconnected our computer. THEN they took it to program Windows XP on it, so it's been out of commission for a while. Sorry guys. It seems that I'll never get this fic completed. Well, it IS completed, but I haven't been able to type it. *Sigh*. Anywhoo, here's chapter 7! Enjoy and R&R.  
  
Disclaimer: FF7? Nope, not mine. Storyline? Yep, I'll claim it.  
  
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Half-expecting a little resistance, he was slightly surprised, yet delighted that she only added to the effect by putting a lot of effort into the return.  
  
"Excuse me." Scarlet's voice broke their bliss.  
  
Both had nearly forgotten that she was even there. "I thought I told you not to follow me Scarlet."  
  
The girl folded her arms against her chest, bangles clanging, and scowled. "I was merely following you to ensure your safety, Ruffie. Now I'm glad I did. Look how easily this slut seduced you with her feminine wiles. She could have lead you into false security and then *BAM*. No more heir to ShinRa." She punctured her sentence with a stomp, smirking when she spotted Tifa's reaction to being called a "slut".  
  
"Pardon me? I think Rufus is a big boy now, I'm pretty sure he can make his own choices. By the way, I'm no slut, and by the looks of your clothes I'd think you'd got the definition backwards. Keep your snot-nose out of other people's business, and while you're at it, do yourself a favor and dye your hair a *normal* color." Tifa said, standing up to face the green haired girl.  
  
Scarlet turned the color her name suggested. "Bitch! His business *is* my business!" she yelled.  
  
Rufus, quite forgotten in the growing catfight, didn't know what to do. Watching Scarlet get her just-desserts was very appealing. But on the other hand, he didn't want Tifa to get hurt. Scarlet could have had a concealed weapon; although he couldn't think of where she'd keep it.  
  
The yelling continued. "Well at least I don't look like a cat came in my room in the middle of the night and pissed on my head!!" Tifa's voice slowly grew louder.  
  
Scarlet's anger finally got her. Her hand flew and a resounding slap filled the room.  
  
Tifa's cheek burned red. She paused for a moment, letting what just happened sink in. "Oh, hell no." she mumbled, flying at Scarlet.  
  
Rufus jumped up, torn between the choice to tear them apart or to let them sort it out. Finally, after Tifa uppercut Scarlet so hard her nose started bleeding, Rufus pulled the angry brunette off the broken-nosed blonde.  
  
"No, wait! I'm not done ripping out all that piss yellow hair!" Tifa yelled with a handful of greenish blonde hair, feet kicking, making it hard for Rufus to hold her back.  
  
"Ow! Bitch! I'll kill you!!" Scarlet screamed, lunging at Tifa who was still being held in the air.  
  
Rufus pulled away with one arm holding Tifa, the other holding Scarlet at bay.  
  
"What the hell is going on in here?" A voice silenced them all.  
  
Scarlet grinned to herself and ran to the voice. "Help me! These two were attacking me!"  
  
The redhead spoke. "Heh, I can see why. They probably thought something was wrong with your head. Yeesh, what happened?" Reno surveyed the scene, Scarlet with an angered look upon her face, Rufus still holding Tifa with one arm, and Tifa herself with her handful of sickly green hair. Reno chuckled. "I saw the whole thing. Man, Tifa, you sure got cozy with Rufus there pretty quick. Must be some real sparks, you've never done *that* with any other guy you've hooked up with.. And Rufus! For someone who's never had a girlfriend, whoo! You two looked like pros.. like you belong together. Now you," he said, pointing a finger at Scarlet. "Where the hell do you get off calling *Tifa*, of all girls, a slut? She's the most conservative girl in Nibelheim. Normally she rejects guys. She had every right to kick your ass after that remark, but she didn't until you slapped her. I'm proud of her. By the way, you might wanna get that fixed." He said, motioning at her nose.  
  
Her face flushed red again and she turned from Reno. "Chauvinistic pig!" she murmured.  
  
"Why thank you."  
  
Rufus warily put Tifa down. "Reno. we weren't getting cozy."  
  
Tifa jumped in. "Rufus don't be modest!" She grinned. "As it happens Reno, Rufus is a *very* good kisser."  
  
Scarlet grimaced. "Shut up."  
  
Tifa turned to her. "You're just jealous that Rufus won't give you the time of day and he picked *me* over *you*. Childishly, she stuck her tongue out.  
  
Reno had to drag Scarlet out of the house kicking and screaming.  
  
"Stay outta my house, bitch!" Tifa yelled, held back by Rufus.  
  
He laughed. "Maybe it was a bad idea to lead her over here." He let her go.  
  
"Nah, I got to release some anger out on her. She really annoyed me. So how did you enjoy our little act?" she asked, looking for a reaction.  
  
He blushed a little and looked away. "Yeah. Did you?"  
  
She nodded, blushing a little too. "Yep. I wasn't lying when I told Reno you were a good kisser. I don't lie unless it's for a good cause."  
  
"Its too bad I have to leave next week. Maybe when you turn eighteen you can move to Junon or Midgar, I'd transfer to either city for you. We could visit again. It's really difficult to get out of the ShinRa HQ just to visit someone. So you gotta make an effort too, k?"  
  
"'K. Not that I'm surprised, but I'm glad you're not giving into your dad and changing, Rufus. I kept hoping that even if I never got to see you again that you wouldn't change. I."  
  
"Well, the green haired chick has been taken care of. I took her to the doctor to patch up her nose. She wouldn't shut up about how you were gonna pay, Teef. She kept saying something about building a bomb and dropping it on your house."  
  
Rufus shook his head. "I wouldn't doubt it that she would. She's a weapons developer now. Bombs are pretty simple for her. Hey, what were you going to say, Tifa?"  
  
"Nothing important. I kinda forgot anyway."  
  
Reno chuckled. "Nah, you probably just don't wanna say it in front of *me*." Reno was soon nursing a bruised ribcage.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Yesh, a short chapter, but then again, I did attempt to finish this chapter in one night. Anywhoo, please review, I love reviews! I need input! Just no flames if you're a Scarlet fan. I really did not like her in the game. I'm not hating on people who do like her, I'm just expressing my feeling on her in this fic. Next chapter up soon. Luv ya! Ciao! ~Kage 


	8. I Want Out

Here's another chapter. It's been what, two weeks since the last chapter? Not bad, don'cha think? Anywhoo, enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: Again? No, I don't own the friggin rights to the game, but the storyline is *mine*!  
  
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*Two years later*  
  
"Vice President Rufus." A guard saluted the young blonde.  
  
"What is it?" he looked up from his paperwork.  
  
"The Turks are here to give you something. Shall I let them in, or are you busy, sir?"  
  
Rufus waved his arm, giving the go-ahead. "Whatever."  
  
A moment later, a tall lanky red-head with glowing mako-infused green eyes accompanied by a tall muscular man with a shaved head, eyes shielded by sunglasses, strolled into the spacious office. "Hey Ruf, happy 18th birthday! Me and Mr. Rude here, we're here to give you a gift. Well, two gifts, but you'll have to wait for the second."  
  
Rufus' eyes glanced up from his paperwork once more only slightly interested. "Yeah?"  
  
Reno set a rather heavy package on his desk. "Here ya go! Hope you like her."  
  
Rufus quirked an eyebrow. ". Her?" He looked at the package, the lid moved. He opened the top and a small dark fuzzy creature leapt at him. He caught it just before it latched its needle sharp claws into his turtleneck. Two large, gleaming emerald eyes peered back at him. His surprised expression was greeted with a tiny lick to his nose.  
  
"Aww, I think she likes you, man. Good, 'cause when we tried to put her in the box, she tried to rip my hand off. You always did have better luck with the ladies, Ruf." Reno nursed a scratched hand.  
  
"Uh, thanks guys, but where am I gonna keep a cat?"  
  
"One, she's not a cat, she's a black panther. Two, you have plenty of room, this is your *floor*. Three, she's potty trained to use this lovely litter box we brought you also. I think she'll manage just fine. So, what's her name gonna be?"  
  
Rufus smiled for the first time in months. "Hmm. Nations. And since she's black, Dark Nations."  
  
Reno shook his head, grinning. "That sounds evil." Rude nodded, emphasizing his friend's remark.  
  
"Ah, I think it sounds find. But why did you get me a gift? You've never gotten me a gift before. What do you two want?" he asked, setting the kitten in his lap and going back to paperwork.  
  
The two Turks glanced at each other. "Oh nothing."  
  
"You're planning something, I know that look, Reno."  
  
The redhead shrugged. "Nah. Say, Ruf, what are you planning on doing tonight?" he asked, nonchalantly.  
  
The blonde rolled his eyes, knowing where this was heading. Probably another plan, trying to get him laid. But Rufus didn't have time for that. Also, that was his father's arena, meaningless flings, especially at the Honeybee Inn. Plus, there was only one girl that could ever catch his eye.  
  
"Hello?" Reno waved a hand in front of his friend's face.  
  
"Look Reno, I really don't feel like playing hooky tonight. I can't afford to get caught again. You know I have training with Seph at 6:00." The vice president warned.  
  
"Aww, but Ruf, I wanna show you something. You'll get out of HQ. Take some time off. You've been working too hard.  
  
The redhead taunted him. "..." Rufus silenced. He hadn't gotten out of this god-awful place in forever.  
  
Rude shook his head and grinned, knowing those were the magic words, knowing that his boss was going to break down and say yes. He also knew what Reno had up his sleeve, and didn't like *that* part of the plan. He had already decided not to go on this little excursion.  
  
"Fine. Tell the department that I have a meeting to attend and cannot go to training tonight. Give them these papers; they're details on a meeting that's going on tonight." He felt he was going to regret this.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A pair of jeans, a grungy gray t-shirt, sunglasses, and a cap was all that Reno gave him. He took all the gel out of his hair and messed it up. Rufus hadn't worn casual clothes for over a year, the training department had taken them away. He stood by the elevator on the first floor, leaning against the wall; eyes open, watching for trouble. Reno hadn't shown up yet. He was always late. "Figures." Rufus looked around. No one even gave him a second glance. As far as they were concerned, he was a homeless kid from the slums, trying to seek warmth and shelter from the chilly October winds. He sighed; surprised that no one had kicked him out.  
  
A hand clamped on his shoulder.  
  
"I spoke too soon..." he thought.  
  
"Hey man, whatcha so jumpy for?"  
  
Rufus turned around to see a young man about his age, wearing an outfit similar to his own. He couldn't tell who he was by his hair or eye color, both were covered. But his smooth baritone laughing voice gave him away. "Where's Rude, Reno?"  
  
"Aw, you can tell it's me? Rude didn't want to come." "Why?" Reno shrugged. "I don't know."  
  
"Reno, can you just tell me where we're going?"  
  
"Nope. You'll see!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "And don't come back ya bums!" A laughing guard yelled after them.  
  
"Gladly." Rufus muttered, adjusting his cap.  
  
Reno chuckled. "Man, just for laughs, you should go back in there and tell them who you are."  
  
"They wouldn't believe me anyway. I'd need my suit and stuff." Rufus said resentfully. "Apparently the suit makes the man. Now, where are we going?" He asked, eyeing his surroundings as they strolled farther from HQ. The living conditions gradually began to worsen from rich apartments to the lower dirty slums. Music from Wall-Market filled his ears.  
  
"Just follow me." Reno said, as if he lived there. Hell, for all Rufus knew, he probably did when he was young. Reno looked back at him. "So, how long you in Midgar for?"  
  
Rufus shook his head. "Not long. Father doesn't want me here. As soon as I clear up some business, he'll ship me back off to Junon. Probably in... 2 more days I think."  
  
They kept going through Wall-Market, soon walking by the Honey-Bee Inn, and Rufus could've swore he saw his father just inside the door, but chose not to say anything.  
  
A young woman stared at them with large brown eyes and shimmering blonde hair, close to the shade of Rufus', only paler. She was about 17; her features included a facial structure that was also like Rufus'.  
  
"Rufus, that girl kinda looks like you." Reno whispered.  
  
She advanced toward them. "You look familiar..." she said, boldly reaching for Rufus' sunglasses. "Hey! -" She gasped. "Rufus ShinRa?! What are *you* doing down here?"  
  
He looked down at the shorter young woman. "Do I know you?" He asked, rather coldly, surprising even himself.  
  
"Well I guess not, Dad probably wouldn't tell *you*. *You're* the lucky one."  
  
"What are you talking about? Does your dad work at ShinRa? Lucky one?" Rufus was more than confused.  
  
She shook her head. "Brace yourself. I'm your sister. My name is Elena ShinRa. My dad is the president of ShinRa Inc."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/n: DUN DUN DUN!!!! *Gasp* Rufus has a sister? What else could happen? Find out next time in Chapter 9 of "Ice". In the meantime folks, Read and Review please!!! Oh, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas! And any other holiday you celebrate, I hope it was a good one! 


	9. Hello Again

A/n: Hey guys, I'm back to working on this after a long hiatus. I've been working on my other fic, 'Beauty, Love, Trust'. It's also a Rufus and Tifa fic, so if you want something else to read while waiting for more chapters on this fic, I'll be posting another chapter on that one soon. Anyway, as always, I beg you to read and REVIEW! I cannot express how much I need/enjoy reviews, even if they tell me I'm doing something wrong. I have humility; I can take feedback as long as it's in a polite manner.  
  
Disclaimer: I'm only allowed to claim the storyline, so uh, yeah.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Rufus' eyebrows drew down. "You're crazy." "Then again..." He thought, "It is possible, father *does* have a lot of mistresses."  
  
Elena shook her head. "I knew you wouldn't believe me. You're probably spoiled rotten up there. Mom told me you probably get treated like a prince."  
  
Rufus' anger rose. "Excuse me, we've never met personally, you do *not* know me. Don't judge me by my father or where I live. I *hate* my father. *You're* the lucky one, to have a mother. I have absolutely no parental figure that cares for me. My father would probably kill me if I weren't his heir. If you really were my sister, you'd understand that."  
  
Reno's eyes widened; the girl was silenced.  
  
"I... I'm sorry. I'm just surprised to see you here. I didn't mean to jump to conclusions. But really, what *are* you doing down here?"  
  
"I'm getting away from the HQ for a day. I'm tired of it. Besides, I owe it to myself. It's my birthday."  
  
Elena's eyes brightened. "Really? Happy Birthday! Oh, and by the way," she whispered. "Your friend is hot." She smiled.  
  
Reno quirked an eyebrow. "What are you looking at me for?"  
  
Rufus took Elena by the shoulders. "Elena, look. I'm sorry about your life. Since I'm your brother, I'll give you some brotherly advice. Why don't you and your mother threaten my father to get yourself a high position at ShinRa HQ?  
  
She snickered. "Us? Threaten the President of ShinRa? Like how?"  
  
"By telling him that if he doesn't, you'll go straight to the media with blood tests proving you're his illegitimate child, if you pardon the phrasing. He's always afraid something like that's going to happen, he wants a 'family man' look to him, trust me." He stated, knowing his father's nature.  
  
Elena's eyes brightened again. She ran at Rufus and hugged him. "That's a great idea! Thanks, Rufus. You'll be hearing from me very soon!" She ran to relay the idea to her mother.  
  
"That chick was kinda cute." Reno stated.  
  
Rufus chose not to answer. His thoughts were lingering on how many brothers or sisters me might truly have.  
  
Reno stopped abruptly, Rufus, not looking up as he walked, bumped directly into Reno's back.  
  
"Hey! Whadja stop for?"  
  
"We're here." The redhead answered.  
  
Rufus looked up at his surroundings. "Sector 7?" 7th Heaven was painted neatly across the top of the small building. Its homey atmosphere invited the two into its wooden doors. "Reno, why are we in a bar? I don't drink-- ."  
  
"Shh!" Reno silenced the blonde. He sat on a stool, waiting for the bartender to come out of the back room.  
  
Rufus sat next to him, confused. Music from a jukebox played, almost drowned out by the voices of men and women who were quickly becoming inebriated. The 18 year old scanned the room. The bouncer, a large black man with a gun-arm, looked at him menacingly. Rufus shuddered and continued his scan. Nothing else seemed out of the ordinary, except there was a pinball machine that was lit but didn't seem to be working. He turned back forward; this time the bartender was there, her back facing them, making a drink. Long dark hair cascaded down her back. The way it was tied back shot Rufus to the past.  
  
"Alright Reno, I'd better not get in trouble for this." Rufus grinned, about to order a drink, something new on his mind.  
  
The bartender turned around, upon hearing new customers, and place Reno's drink in front of him. Those cherry eyes still sparkled, even in the dim bar lighting. He'd recognize those eyes anywhere.  
  
"Tifa?!"  
  
Reno grinned.  
  
Tifa turned to the young man that called her name. "What can I...?" Her friendly smile turned into a gasp. "Rufus?!" *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Why didn't you return any of my letters?" She asked, slightly annoyed at the fact that she hadn't heard from him since Nibleheim, yet still overjoyed about seeing him. She was on her break; thirty minutes to be free from the small room filled with smoke and drunks.  
  
Rufus quirked an eyebrow. "Return any of your letters? You didn't send me any letters, or at least none of them made it to me. The only mail I get is from my father. Besides, I sent you letters too. You can't tell me that you didn't get those."  
  
She shook her head. "I didn't. But if you didn't any of my letters, and the ones you sent me didn't make it, the must be getting held up somewhere. Someone doesn't want us communicating."  
  
Now it was Rufus' turn to shake his head, this time with understanding. He sighed. "Figures. And I never called you because I knew that they have the line tapped. It's probably the training department. They took everything from me. My casual clothes, most forms of entertainment, *and* my mail."  
  
Tifa patted his back. "I'm sorry. How 'bout we go back up front and I fix you up something on the house, on account of your birthday?" She smiled cheerfully when he nodded with a somber look.  
  
She stopped at the door. "Uh oh... You may want to stay her for a sec, Rufus. Be right back." She walked out, closing the door to a crack behind her.  
  
Rufus walked to the door and peeked out. He saw blue suits. "Can I help you boys with something?" He heard Tifa say politely.  
  
One particularly gruff looking guard stepped forward. "We're looking for Vice President Rufus ShinRa. Hand him over." He said rudely.  
  
She laughed. "I know my regulars, and *don't* think the vice president of the ShinRa Electric Co. is one of them."  
  
"We saw him come in here girl, don't lie."  
  
Tifa's expression turned serious. "How dare you call me a liar?! Rufus ShinRa, is there a Rufus ShinRa in here?" She yelled mockingly.  
  
The guard closed his eyes, angered. Without warning, his hand shot out and back handed Tifa across the face. The room fell silent.  
  
The blow was so hard, Tifa's head snapped to the side, eyes wide in shock.  
  
Rufus's heart skipped a beat, a primal instinct told him to jump out and tear the guard to pieces, but there was also an unnatural urge to stay put. He fought and defeated the strange urge and nearly flew to Tifa's aide.  
  
Her eyes watered from the stinging pain, her hand clutched her burning cheek. She glared at the guard who was now grinning down at her with a smug look plastered to his face.  
  
"Are you ok?" Rufus inquired, checking her face for major damage.  
  
The soldier looked pleased. "Vice President ShinRa, please come with us. Your father is anxious to speak with you."  
  
Rufus shook his head. "I'll go back on my own."  
  
"I can't let you do that, sir."  
  
Tifa joined in soon after finding her voice. "Get out of my bar, please. That will be the only time I ask nicely." She said firmly, containing her rage.  
  
Reno stood, rather woozily, trying to hide his drunken state. "Dude, its ok, I'm here protecting him."  
  
"You are also in trouble, Reno." The guard said, still smiling.  
  
The large man with the gun arm came over. "'Scuse me, but yo' scarin' off customers. I seggest yo' leave Tifa here alone, or I'll have ta take matters inta my own hands." He said, menacingly running a hand over the rather large machine gun he had for an arm.  
  
"Don't threaten the soldiers of ShinRa." The man in blue said.  
  
Soon the whole place was in an uproar. The argument had taken a physical level. After flailing fists, guns were being shot. Tifa took on two men in blue, Rufus surrounded by three, Reno taking on one to himself, and the bouncer and the head guard still going at it. Customers screamed and ran for their lives, dodging flying bodies and bullets.  
  
Tifa uppercut on guard and kicked the other in the groin. Both fell to their knees.  
  
Rufus wasn't blessed with under trained guards. He swung at one and tried a roundhouse with the other, but both dodged and tried keeping him busy while a third crept up behind him.  
  
Tifa looked over to see how he was faring and saw his predicament. "Rufus! Behind!" Tifa was cut off as the head guard cupped a hand over her mouth.  
  
Rufus turned to see what she said and saw she was being held hostage. "Tifa!" He started toward her, but was caught off guard as one of the men in blue hit him in the back of the head with the butt of his gun.  
  
Tifa could only gasp in horror as she watched Rufus' eyes grow wide, then dim as his knees buckled from under him.  
  
He nearly missed the base of an overturned table and broken glass as his body hit the ground.  
  
Tifa's eyes were tearing up; she stopped struggling. She surveyed the scene: broken glass, windows, overturned chairs and tables, and puddles of the various drinks scattered the ground. Thankfully, no, miraculously, no one was dead; Tifa saw Barret the bouncer was still breathing. Reno had passed out, and the two guards she had fought lay whimpering.  
  
The guard let go of her. "Good girl. Thank you for assisting in Rufus' capture." They picked up their fallen, including Reno, and dragged the two eighteen year olds out of the building.  
  
The room was quiet now; silence deafened her. Her legs quivered with shock, and they quickly gave out on her. She took another look around the room; Barret started to stir.  
  
This incident shook her back to the past, three months ago to be exact. The day 'he' came back. Cloud Strife. And he'd brought that abomination with him. Cloud, an old crush, had come back with Sephiroth to Nibelheim to check out an old reactor in the Nibelheim Mountains. Sephiroth. The man that killed her father. Sephiroth had started out nice, gentlemanly and polite, good looking too. But that all changed in a night; he changed to a crazy lunatic. And then Cloud ran off again in her time of need...  
  
Tifa shook her head. "No. That's the past." She thought, closing her eyes. She thought about Rufus and how his own soldiers had turned on him. "Is that how they treat their own kind? His life must be a living hell. How does he stay sane?" She leaned against an overturned table. "Rufus, I hope you're all right..."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
His ice blue eyes opened slowly. Pain shot through his skull as he tried to sit up. The room was dark, but lights danced across his vision. He remembered what happened at the bar, but just barely.  
  
The only clear thing was the exploding lights and colors when he was hit. He rubbed the back of his head, wincing as he gingerly touched the large lump forming there. His thoughts then turned to Tifa. He prayed that they'd spared her, that she'd been left unharmed at the bar. "Tifa, I hope you're ok..."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/n: Whew. Another chapter done, and another on the way! I hope I get this thing moving a bit more often. Again, while you're waiting for the next chapter, please read and review my other fic being written at the moment, Beauty, Love, Trust. Please Review!  
  
~Kage 


	10. The Morning After

A/n: Ok, here's another chapter. I'm trying to get these up, and I really *am* trying not to be lazy! Keep up the reviews please!  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, I don't own cities, but I do own the idea for the story.  
  
Chapter 10  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
*The next morning*  
  
An extremely large pounding headache was what woke him; he opened his mako green eyes and checked out his surroundings. He was back in his dorm at HQ. "Damn, I've got one hell of a headache..." Reno mumbled, holding his head. He felt utterly sick, dizzier than he'd ever felt. He turned on the lights, wincing when his head pounded harder. "I swear to God, I'm never drinking again..." He vowed, checking his reflection.  
  
His lip was cut; the only other damage was a bruise on his cheek. But he couldn't remember what for. "Musta been a fight at the bar last night. Hope I got whoever roughed me up." He took an aspirin, turned off the lights and went back to bed.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"You up boy?" A guard asked through the door.  
  
Rufus winced as he stood to walk over to the barred threshold. "Why the hell am I in this cell?" he demanded, clutching his head.  
  
"Your father ordered us to. Sort of a punishment for running off the way you did. He's on his way to see you now."  
  
"How'd you know I'd left?" He asked, wondering how his plan of escape had been foiled.  
  
"Heh, we saw Rude without Reno. When that happens, something big is going down, and you weren't at training *or* the meeting you planned to attend, so we knew you were linked. Sure enough, you were." The guard gave a toothy grin, as if it had been him who figured it out.  
  
The blonde opened his mouth to speak, but the loud clanking of the door to the cell area cut him off.  
  
"Ah, President ShinRa. Nice of you to join us. I was just giving..."  
  
"Shut up." Barked the president. He looked at his son. "What the HELL where you thinking?! You could have been identified? You could have been seen down there with those filthy excuses for human beings! Do you *want* to ruin your reputation before it starts?"  
  
Rufus narrowed his eyes at his father. "I was just getting out and having fun, like a *normal* teenager. *You* do it all the time." He said hatefully.  
  
The older man silenced and stared at his son. "You have a lot to learn about this business, son. Certain places are ok, but only with expressed permission. If you want to go to a bar, there are plenty inside the headquarters."  
  
Rufus smirked.  
  
The guard corrected the president. "Sir, he was in the back room of the bar with a girl."  
  
The president's eyes grew wide. "Is this true, Rufus?"  
  
He nodded slowly. Hey only said 'with a girl', not any specifics, and he was with Tifa, so he let their minds wander.  
  
His father shook his head, smiling wide, and let out a hearty laugh. "It's already started! Just don't let it get out of control." He opened the cell door. "Don't cause trouble again. This is only a warning. It will be worse the next time you screw up."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tifa looked around the bar again. This time it was neat and clean, no shattered glass littered across the room, no liquid dripping from counters like the night before. She smiled to herself; a feeling of accomplishment flooded her thoughts, almost rivaling the feeling of failure. Once again, she had lost.  
  
The emotion followed her everywhere. It had been there when he was helpless to assist Rufus the first time they met. It had been there when cloud had left her for SOLDIER. Once again when the town of Nibelheim burned to the ground, and when Sephiroth killed her father. She had tried to avenge his death, picking up the Masamune carelessly dropped by her father's body. She charged the silver haired man, yet he stopped her mid- slash and turned the sword on her. How foolish she'd been, thinking she could take on ShinRa's highest ranking SOLDIER.  
  
Tifa put a hand to her chest, feeling the whole effect of failure through the scar that had formed there. It was a painful reminder of her weakness. Barrett's coughing from the other room shattered her thoughts. She had dragged the 6'1", two hundred and seventy-five pound man to the back room. It had been no easy task, and it was a slow process, but she had managed. She went to the room where Barrett sat, leaning against her refrigerator. There was no way she was going to be able to lift him onto the bed.  
  
"Wha' happened? Why the *@%# am I back here?" He scratched his head.  
  
Tifa smiled. "I dragged you back here. You were out cold. You've got a nasty bruise on the back of your neck, so be careful."  
  
Almost as if ignoring her, he rubbed the back of his neck. "OW! What the *%@# happened?"  
  
Tifa sighed and rolled her eyes.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Reno threw on his jacket, half-heartedly straightened his loose tie, and tucked in his wrinkled shirt. The president had just called him into his office, and he didn't sound happy. He took a deep breath as he neared the doors. His palms were sweating as he knocked on President ShinRa's door.  
  
"Come in Reno." Said a voice over the intercom. "Sit down."  
  
Reno obediently sat in an overstuffed chair.  
  
The president gave a long sigh and stared at him. "Reno, you are a Turk. A very skilled one at that. You may leave the office anytime you like, as long as you are not on a mission, or on call. Rufus on the other hand, is not allowed to leave the Midgar office unless he has permission, or it is ordered for him to leave. May I ask why you felt it was under your power to allow him to leave?"  
  
The redhead gulped loudly. "Uh, I'm sorry sir, I felt that since it was his birthday, I'd take him to have a little fun undercover, show him how the lover—I mean *lower* class works..."  
  
A vein pulsed in the president's forehead. "Reno, I am very close to firing you. But then I would lose an excellent Turk. Unfortunately, I've seen you slacking off lately. Do you *want* to get demoted to guard again?!"  
  
Reno shook his head violently. It wasn't so bad starting out as a guard, but to be demoted *that* far would be devastating to his image.  
  
"What do you propose I do, Reno?"  
  
"Quit asking me questions you already know the freaking answer to!" Reno thought. "Please sir, give me another chance. It won't happen again! I'll be the best Turk you've ever had! I really need money right now sir, since Nibelheim burned down, mom had to move back here." Reno knew that the president didn't care, but he did know that he was the fastest and stealthiest Turk at ShinRa Corps., and that guaranteed him a little leeway.  
  
President ShinRa closed his eyes and sighed.  
  
"That means he's considering it..." Reno thought.  
  
"All right Reno, look. I'll give you another chance. But I am docking this month's pay, and if you're not careful, I'll keep docking it. You hear me?"  
  
The younger man jumped up. "Yes sir! Thank you sooo much sir, it'll never happen again!" He was about to grab the president's hand to shake it, but an icy glare froze him to the spot. "Uh, I'll be leaving now, I guess. Thank you again sir!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/n: Ok, yes, a considerably shorter chapter than last time, but I can't just start the next events in this chapter! So stay tuned, another chapter is soon on its way!  
  
~Kage 


	11. ShinRa HQ: 3 Years Later

A/n: Hey guys, here again with yet another chapter. I think I'm actually almost halfway through this fic now! Yay! Oh, by the way, if you are a fan of either Beyblade or Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, my 'lil sis, Darkfire Guardian, has a hilarious take on the play. She has adapted it from the Compleat Wrks of Willm Shkspr. Yes, it's meant to be spelled like that. Anywhoo, please read and review! Luv ya all!  
  
Disclaimer: None of it is mine, *sigh*. Well, I can claim the storyline...  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A dark grin spread across his face. "Finally, I'm out of this hell-hole." He said, the thought making him shiver. He waved the messenger out of his office. He couldn't believe it. The tall man looked out of the window overlooking the ocean and the sunset. The same sunset that, to him, signified his father's reign ending.  
  
He laughed cruelly to himself. "The bastard is finally dead. Sephiroth, I owe you one, even if you are a crazy lunatic." He pressed the intercom and told the secretary to prepare the helicopter. He had to see this for himself. Supposedly, there was a massacre. The room dimmed darker as clouds floated over the setting sun. The icy blue eyes, colder than they'd ever been, glowed in the faint light.  
  
"President Rufus," the secretary tactfully said, cleverly expecting a raise for being the first to acknowledge him as president. "Your chopper is ready."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tifa opened her eyes, hearing Cloud shift in the darkness. Somehow she got the impression that he was feeling sorry for Aerith, who was in the cell right next to theirs. She sighed and rolled over onto her back and crossed one leg over the other. She was glad he was back, but he was different.  
  
He had major migraines. Sometimes he'd have episodes where he'd talk to someone who wasn't there. Worst of all, he'd brought this girl, Aerith, with him when he came back from falling off of Mako Reactor 6. Tifa had been so worried that he'd died, and he came back, healthy as ever, with this girl following him around like a lost puppy, calling him her bodyguard. Ok, she was a tinge jealous.  
  
Not that she had anything *against* Aerith, she was actually very nice, good gossip companion.  
  
Tifa closed her eyes again and tried to sleep. Thirty minutes later, though, Cloud shook her awake.  
  
"Tifa, there's something wrong. The door's unlocked."  
  
The two went outside the cell, a trail of dark blood leading from the door to a dead guard. Cloud handed the key to Tifa. "Let Barret and Red XIII out, I'll get Aerith."  
  
"Figures." She thought. She freed the two; Red XIII was a new addition.  
  
He was a creature from Hojo's lab that looked like a lion crossed with a wolf; his fur dark red and his tail had a flame that lit his cell. He talked as well; he was quite intelligent.  
  
"Hey guys, wake up, the doors are unlocked. We're free."  
  
Barret woke up; Red XIII took and shook himself awake. They followed her outside, to the dead body.  
  
"Holy $%!#! What the hell happened here?" Barret questioned.  
  
"Shh!" Cloud shook his head. "We're gonna split up, we need to look around. I'm curious to see where this trail of blood'll lead us."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The helicopter neared the city; Midgar loomed in the distance. All the lights lit up the polluted darkness like diamonds in soot.  
  
Another grin spread across his face. No more paperwork, this was a chance to prove himself as a leader. The programming the department had brainwashed him with was quickly taking over. This was the moment all that 'training' had prepared him for.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A familiar sight flashed in Tifa's memory. President ShinRa was lying facedown on his desk, that all-too-familiar sword sticking through him almost to the hilt. Her own father's death was similar. The same murderer. Sephiroth. Tifa was too overwhelmed to hear Barret and Cloud question Palmer.  
  
The sound of a nearing chopper distracted Cloud and Barret long enough to let Palmer free.  
  
"What the $*@^?! I forgot about him!" Barret said, clapping his real hand to his face.  
  
"Who?" Red XIII questioned.  
  
"The damned president's son! He's been hiding out in Junon for the past ten years, staying out of the limelight."  
  
Aerith shrugged. "I heard no one's ever seen him bleed or cry."  
  
Tifa smiled to herself. She had. Or at least seen his eyes water, showing some emotion. She let her mind wander, thinking out loud. "I wonder what kind of person he is..." she said, trailing off after catching herself. "...now?" She finished, mentally.  
  
They all went out onto the balcony where a young man jumped from the helicopter that hovered nearby.  
  
When he stood up straight, he neared 6'2", and was lean but muscular. He wore a pristine white suit, black turtleneck, and heavy brown boots. His eyes still shone icy blue, glowing in the dim light, yet now one could feel the chill in his stare, sending shivers down one's spine. The silky soft blonde hair that used to move with the breeze was now gelled back, only a few strands were allowed to fall into his face, and even those were constantly flipped back behind an ear.  
  
Tifa was the last to file through the door, but when she saw him, she took in a quick, sharp breath. He barely looked the same way he did three years ago  
  
He hadn't seen her yet; he was looking through the huge windows, seeing his father's corpse with Sephiroth's Masamune jutting out of his large back. Rufus laughed coldly. "So it *is* true. He finally kicked the bucket." He thought. His eyes turned to Cloud, who was glaring at him. "Well, well. Since my old man's gone, I guess I'll let you hear my acceptance speech." He ran a hand through his hair, his eye finally catching Tifa. Surprise shook him, but he couldn't stop the speech.  
  
He casually walked toward Tifa first, speaking loudly that he would run the city; that it cost too much to run the city like his old man. He stopped in front of her and took a short break from his speech. He whispered to her. "Long time no see. Why don't you stay a while after this?"  
  
He continued his speech, stopping in front of other AVALANCHE members, sizing them up, pretending they were no different from Tifa.  
  
When Rufus had quit talking for more than thirty seconds, Cloud told everyone to get out of the building. Rufus merely smirked as the rest of the rebel group left. He whistled sharply, and out of the helicopter jumped a large dark creature.  
  
If it stood on it's hindquarters, it'd been taller than Rufus. It resembled a cat, and it's emerald green eyes flashed against glossy black fur.  
  
"Let's get this over with." Rufus muttered.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Downstairs, Tifa rushed everyone through the doors and told them to go on.  
  
Aerith rushed back to her. "Are you staying here?"  
  
Tifa nodded. "I have to make sure he's all right."  
  
Aerith nodded, assuming 'he' meant Cloud. She ran to the elevators to join Red XIII and Barret.  
  
Which 'he' was the hard part. Rooting for neither one, she listened for the battle upstairs and held her breath.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Dark Nations wasted no time casting a magic barrier and a shell on herself and her master. She growled at her opponent, baring her teeth at Cloud. To her, this was a routine battle.  
  
The enemy only glared back, waiting in a battle stance.  
  
Rufus smirked. "It's sad that we won't become friends." He said, eyes fixed on his target. He aimed his shotgun with one arm and pulled the trigger, the recoil rocked him back on his heels, but didn't faze him in the least.  
  
Cloud winced, feeling the full effect of the bullet's shrapnel. He went after the cat thing first, it seemed to be the cure/barrier caster.  
  
Dark Nations readied herself.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tifa heard gunshots from both upstairs *and* the elevators. "What the hell is going on? Maybe I should have gone with them..." Now she rooted for both the blondes, wishing the fight never began.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Hm, he's a bit tougher than I expected. I better get Dark Nations out of here." He thought, eyeing his pet who was nearing KO. When she finally did collapse, Rufus took a few more shots at Cloud and decided that the battle was pointless. "I'll let him go so we can spar, for real next time." He thought. "Time to go. I'll see you later." He grabbed Dark Nations in one arm and grabbed the landing gear of the helicopter with the other.  
  
Cloud tried to follow but to no avail. He turned to join his group of friends, muttering to himself. He found Tifa downstairs, looking pale.  
  
"What happened? Who won?"  
  
Cloud grimaced. "No one did, the kid chickened out and left in the middle of the battle."  
  
Tifa gave a sigh of relief. "Good."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing, I'll be right back. Stay here, I forgot something upstairs." She said, beginning to sprint to the stairs.  
  
"Hey! Tifa?! You want me to come with you?" Cloud said, re-sheathing his sword.  
  
"Nah, I'll be ok." She called over her shoulder.  
  
"All right, but be on the lookout for that Rufus guy. He could be lurking around her anywhere. I'll look out for him down here for you. Be careful."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Rufus stared at his father, laying face down on the desk, Masamune still buried deep in his back. The new president laughed cruelly to himself. "It's my turn, dad."  
  
"Rufus?" A voice startled him.  
  
A rejuvenated Dark Nations sprang into attack position, but relaxed when she saw the human was female.  
  
Tifa's eyes went wide at the sight of the large feline that had bared its teeth at her.  
  
"Don't worry, she doesn't bite unless I tell her to." Rufus said, barely comforting Tifa with his words.  
  
An awkward silence filled the room, Tifa felt sure she barely knew this man. His presence didn't quite feel the same. His warm comforting blue eyes seemed to now send icy shards through her. But even through the tough exterior, she could tell that deep down, *way* deep down, the Rufus she knew was in there, somewhere.  
  
She looked out the window, out past the balcony and saw that there was large group of soldiers forming outside the front of the building. The elevators carrying Aerith, Barrett, and Red XIII would soon be arriving in the lobby right in front of the mob of soldiers. She pulled together some courage. "Rufus... please help us do something to get out of here. My friend will never make it with all those soldiers down there..."  
  
His clear blue eyes stopped examining her. "Hmm, now why would I want to do that? Your friends *did* bust in here and try to fight me. I haven't done anything wrong. I don't think your boyfriend likes me very much."  
  
Tifa rolled her eyes. "He's not my boyfriend. He's a childhood friend from Nibelheim."  
  
Rufus smirked. "Which is why you looked so worried when he came back after our little scuffle, eh?"  
  
"I was worried about *both* of you." She said, scowling now.  
  
"No need to get angry, Miss Lockheart, your friends will get out. I'll even help you get vehicles." He held up two keys. "One is for the motorcycle on the second floor, that spiky-haired country boy should have fun with that, the other is for the vehicles on display in the foyer on the first floor. Last time I checked there was an old pickup that should hold the rest of you."  
  
Tifa's face softened. "Well, he didn't have to be such a jerk when I walked in." She thought.  
  
"Do you want them or not?" He asked, a grin playing on his face.  
  
She looked at him warily. "What's the catch?" She asked, eyes searching him for lies.  
  
"No catch, Miss Lockheart. I'm just doing this for an old friend. Just don't expect any opportunities like this to pop up again." The only change in his frigid voice was used for his comment about an old friend. It had taken on the warm and gentle quality of three years ago. He walked over to her and pressed the keys into her hand. "We *will* meet again, Tifa, but I can't hold off the Mako forever. Don't trust me so much in the future. I'm sorry in advance." He said, turning away.  
  
Tifa looked down at the keys and then back up at Rufus' back, very confused.  
  
His fists clenched, Dark Nations looked up from her corner. "NOW GET OUT OF HERE!" He yelled, making both Dark Nations and Tifa jump.  
  
"Thank you Rufus..." She whispered, and then ran from the room, down the stairs, nearly colliding with Cloud.  
  
"There you are! I was just about to come up there to check on you. You took a while. The others are close to ground level. What's this?" He asked when Tifa tossed him a key.  
  
"Go to the 2nd floor, get the motorcycle. Use that key."  
  
Cloud blinked. "Uh, how'd you get this?"  
  
"Later Cloud! Get down there, a mass of soldiers is waiting for the others at the entrance."  
  
Cloud, surprised by Tifa's sudden domineering orders, ran to the nearest elevator marked for emergencies. It was used for quick exits in case of fires; the whole elevator and elevator shaft had been fire proofed. The elevator moved extremely fast.  
  
The elevator soon stopped at the 2nd floor. "Go, hurry and get that thing started. I'll get the others." Tifa ran downstairs where Aerith, Barrett, and Red XIII were about to charge the mob of soldiers. "Guys! This way!"  
  
"Where's Cloud?" An anxious Aerith asked.  
  
"He's coming." She said, hearing the engine fire-up up stairs. Tifa jumped into the pick-up that Rufus had mentioned. It looked like they'd all fit. "Get in guys!" She yelled as Cloud came down the stairs on his motorcycle. Tifa revved the engine, making sure everyone was in as she followed Cloud out of the building.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Rufus stood in his office looking out the window at the chase scene unfolding before him. He watched the two vehicles race down the highway and out of sight, heading toward the city walls. The soldiers had sent their tank robot after them, but Rufus knew it wouldn't be enough to stop them. A voice behind him made him turn around.  
  
"Uh, sir? They got away."  
  
"Duh." Rufus thought. "Never mind them. Get someone to track down Sephiroth, and have Scarlet look into giant materia. And Reeve, send a spy- bot into the AVALANCHE group. I'd like to keep and eye on them."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/n: Ok guys, I hope you know (and appreciate) that I did this 7, almost eight, page chapter in one night. This chapter is my baby and I just couldn't quit typing, no matter how bad the cramps in my ribs and shoulders are. Please tell me what you think about my interpretation of the ShinRa Headquarters part of the game. That is what I think went on behind the scenes, why Rufus went up to Tifa first, and why they were able to start up that truck and motorcycle so fast that they couldn't possibly have hotwired them in short that amount of time. Ok, now I'm rambling. Sorry guys. Please review; I'll have the next chapter up soon, hopefully! Luv ya! 


	12. Revelations

A/n: Hey guys, what's up? I'm working on another chapter, so enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: I can't claim anything other than the storyline, you know the drill.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"What was I thinking?" Reno said to himself, sitting on his bed, head in hands. "What on earth made me follow such an order?" He continued, recalling the event of his blowing up the pillar that once held up the plate over Sector 7. "So many people... are dead because of me." A slow realization of a force he couldn't control washed over him.  
  
"It's that damn mako crap. It's an enhancer *and* a mind controller. That's why if you get exposed to too much, you're screwed. Why didn't I think of that before? That's why I can't control anything I do anymore, that's why Rufus has gone whack, that's why the demand for mako is so high, so Hojo can have a mindless military at his command." Reno's eyes opened wide, flashing with his sudden knowledge. But at that moment, an urge to get drunk drowned out his revelation and overcame his thoughts.  
  
The brainwashing had taken full effect. He grabbed a beer out of the small fridge he kept in his room. A voice halted him.  
  
"Hey, Reno, what do you think you're doing?"  
  
Reno turned to see Elena standing there, looking particularly overbearing with her hands on her slender hips. He shrugged. "Getting a drink?" He answered in question to the recruit for the Turks. "What's it to you?"  
  
"Oh it's nothing; it's just that if you get drunk now, I get to look forward to a night of getting hit on with cheap pick-up lines."  
  
He looked innocently at her, but killed it by saying, "What, that's a bad thing?"  
  
Elena's anger got the better of her, this time letting her open hand do the talking, leaving a red hand print across Reno's face. She stormed off, eyes clenched as hard as her fists. "Insensitive jerk! Tseng would never say things like that!" She muttered to herself.  
  
Reno's wide eyed stare followed her. "I hope you know that didn't hurt!" He said aloud, then adding quietly, "...much."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Rufus sat up in bed again, shaking. "That damn dream again! Why can't I get that woman out of my head?" He thought aloud. A cold, cruel voice entered his thoughts.  
  
"Ignore the dreams. That's all they are, dreams. Until we capture her, think nothing of her." The dry, raspy voice said.  
  
Rufus had tried to fight the voice, but after finding his attempts futile, he slowly realized that he was being controlled like a puppet. The voice seemed to have control over most of Rufus' actions and words. The last time he'd even been close to breaking the weird urges was when he gave those keys to Tifa, and even then it was a struggle. The voice had started right after that, driving him near to insanity at times, but he was getting used to it.  
  
His raven-haired companion slept silently beside him, breathing rhythmically.  
  
He turned to her and stroked the shimmering soft black hair, smiling to himself. "At least I know you'll never turn on me."  
  
The dark figure purred in her sleep.  
  
He turned over, deciding he'd do what he could in the morning. "Good night, Darkie." He whispered before drifting back to sleep.  
  
Dark Nations opened an eye and licked Rufus' ear before growling her own goodnight.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"So, are you enjoying your vacation so far?" Elena said to Rude.  
  
"..." The bald man was silent.  
  
"I agree Rude; it might've been a little more fun if there wasn't a chick around." Reno said grinning.  
  
"Oh, shut up." Elena smacked Reno upside the head.  
  
Rude shook his head, smiling to himself.  
  
An unnatural part of Reno snapped. "Elena, if you do that one more time, I'll smack you so hard, you'll be begging Rufus to let you outta ShinRa. You hear me? I won't have someone like *you* make a fool outta me." Reno's normally warm laughing voice turned hateful and cold.  
  
Elena's eyes grew wide. "S... sorry." She said, fear of the redheaded Turk welling up inside.  
  
Reno, surprised at his own action wanted to hit himself. Threatening her was the last thing he wanted to do, in fact, he normally wouldn't have cared. He usually laughed at that kind of thing. He struggled to apologize, but his mouth wouldn't allow it.  
  
Rude went silently back to his beer.  
  
Suddenly the bar door opened, in walking Cloud and two other AVALANCHE members. Elena jumped up. "Imagine meeting you here. Must be fate!" She said, readying herself to fight.  
  
Cloud and companions jumped into fighting positions.  
  
"Elena, sit down."  
  
"But... but Reno..."  
  
"We're on vacation, not a mission. Now even the booze tastes bad." Reno said, shaking his head.  
  
Elena sat down dejectedly. "Sorry, Reno."  
  
Rude sat drinking his beer, thinking to himself. "Reno's changed. I've never seen him like this. He's no fun anymore, he's always drunk. President Rufus has changed too. Something's fishy around here."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tifa sat next to the fence that was holding the chocobos. She sighed and thought about the situation. Most everyone nowadays was pro-ShinRa and anti-AVAVLANCHE. ShinRa had pinned all bad happenings on AVALANCHE, like the plate falling over Sector 7, putting more trust in ShinRa.  
  
Tifa felt that Rufus had betrayed her, acting like he didn't even know her as a friend. Something was different. Thankfully, he'd spared them and let them go. He had even apologized, but for what? It was almost like he couldn't control his own actions. "I'm sorry in advance." His warm voice had remained for that statement before yelling at her to leave.  
  
Something tapped Tifa, pushing her gently forward.  
  
She turned to see who was trying to comfort her.  
  
A blue river chocobo strained its graceful neck over the railing.  
  
Tifa smiled. "Hello there." She said, stroking its downy blue feathers. She sighed and looked the chocobo in the eye. "What do you think? Is Rufus still trustworthy or have I lost him to the dark side?"  
  
The large bird ruffled his useless wings, almost shrugging, but put his head against her chest, as if to say, "Do what your heart tells you."  
  
She smiled and patted its head. "My heart's been broken too many times before. What if I'm wrong?"  
  
The chocobo merely repeated his last motion.  
  
"Ok, ok, I get the picture.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/n: Ok, yes, a short and almost eventless chapter. But it had to be there. I'm now working on the next chapter, and it is definitely more eventful. Please keep the reviews up! Oh I'd also like to give a shout out to generalquistis who drew me a lovely picture for the chapter where Tifa and Rufus make out, much to Scarlet's horror. Thank you so much!! It's on her webpage, Bloodstained Dreams.  
  
~Kage 


	13. Unpleasant Meeting

A/n: Ok, now for the eventful chapter that always follows the boring short chapter. Whoopee! Enjoy, read and review please!  
  
Disclaimer: Nothin' but the storyline is mine.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Sir, the big man put up a fight, but we got him restrained, he's out cold now. The girl is now in the interrogation room alone."  
  
"Good, I'll be speaking to her myself." The confident young president said.  
  
"But sir, she's dangerous; we've already sent three men to the infirmary because of her."  
  
All he subconsciously wanted to do was see her again, alone. Just to be with her. "I'll be fine. Just open the damn door."  
  
The soldier sighed. "Yes sir." He opened the door to let Rufus in and quickly shut it behind him.  
  
Rufus casually walked to the figure standing toward the window, staring at the ominous Meteor outside.  
  
"I already told you what I had to say." The female said coldly.  
  
Rufus sat in a chair. "That was when the man with the gun arm was in the room. I know you have more to say to me, Ms. Lockheart." Rufus' mind was engulfed by the cold voice in his head.  
  
"Why did you even come in here again? Oh I know, you've got the hots for this girl, eh? Heh, maybe I'll just do you a favor and order them to put her in your bedroom." The voice chuckled evilly.  
  
Rufus' own voice answered back to the voice in his head. "Don't you even dare. You may have control most of the time, but I can still do something when you're not expecting it. I'm not afraid to shoot myself in the head, I've got nothing to lose, especially now."  
  
The voice quieted.  
  
Tifa decided to speak. "Rufus, I wanna know what happened to you. You aren't the same Rufus ShinRa I know."  
  
His face gave her a cruel grin. "Oh? What makes me so different now?"  
  
Tifa glared at him. "You're distant now. And what's with this Ms. Lockheart crap? You know me as Tifa."  
  
He stood up and walked to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She jerked away, but he gently pulled her back. He looked at her, knowing that she was the one thing he could never have, knowing that if she did stay here, his body would do something terrible to her. "Tifa, I haven't changed..." Suddenly his voice was working.  
  
She listened patiently, waiting for him to finish his sentence eagerly. He sounded, for a moment, like he used to. "Yes?"  
  
In his surprise, he lost his concentration and couldn't figure out how he won control for the two seconds he talked. He looked at her with remorse for what he'd already done.  
  
"Well?"  
  
He struggled, trying to finish. Finally he spoke, but it was the evil voice speaking, not Rufus.  
  
"I want you." He pulled her into a forceful embrace, pushing his lips to hers, one arm holding her to him, the other wandering from her head, down her arm, continuing down her side.  
  
She struggled in his grasp and pulled back. "You bastard..." She muttered, hardly believing the move he just pulled. She glared at him.  
  
The blonde only stared at her, grinning evilly and licking his lips.  
  
Tifa brought her hand high and proceeded to slap the grin right off his smug face.  
  
Rufus caught her arm and forced it behind her back. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. What, you didn't enjoy our little kiss, Ms. Lockheart?" He whispered into her ear before kissing down her neck and stopping around her collarbone.  
  
She struggled against him, pain shooting through her arm. "Let go. Now." She said firmly.  
  
Rufus merely grinned cruelly into her slender neck and loosened her suspenders. He wrapped an arm around her and caressed her bare stomach.  
  
Tifa grimaced as she got goose bumps, she struggled still. "I didn't want to do this, Rufus..." Her thoughts ended abruptly as she kicked her leg up high, boot connecting with the president's face. She hadn't kicked hard, just enough to make him back off.  
  
He let go and stumbled backwards, holding his cheek. He chuckled. "You'll pay dearly for that." He said, calmly.  
  
Tifa stared defiantly at him, clutching her arm.  
  
Rufus stood up straight. "You and your friend will be executed at the end of the day."  
  
The brunette paled as the feeling of cold betrayal washed over her. She shook her head. "He's gone. The real Rufus is gone." She said, closing her eyes and turning to face the window.  
  
Rufus looked at the girl that had just given him a bruise, but bruised in a different way. The force overtaking him laughed coldly, the real Rufus reduced to a voice in his own head.  
  
He walked out of the room, and ordered the guard to execute the prisoners.  
  
"Yes sir." The soldier said, beginning to walk away.  
  
"Wa...wait."  
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Ta...take th...is." The true Rufus was getting words to the surface. He struggled to hand him the key that unlocked the arm and leg shackles in the gas chamber. "D...Drop th...is... in fro...nt of ...h...er."  
  
"Sir, are you all right? Why?"  
  
"J...ust g...o!"  
  
"Yes sir." The guard said and went out to ready the chamber.  
  
The president leaned against the wall and slid to the floor. Head in hands, a horrible headache was forming. He didn't know how he did it; it was a true fight for control. His energy was gone, but the voice was still there, he could sense it. "I'm going to my office to rest, whether you like it or not." He told himself.  
  
For once, the voice was silent.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A tear made its way down Tifa's cheek. The thought of death frightened her, and even more so, considering she was sentenced by one she had once called friend. Why had he turned from one personality to a totally new and evil one? She just didn't understand it.  
  
The door opened. "It's time." The guard said.  
  
This time, Tifa didn't put up a fight. Beaten emotionally and mentally, she followed the soldier.  
  
He put her in a chair and clamped the iron onto her arms and legs, making sure she couldn't move. He put the key into his pocket, then remembering Rufus' order, let it fall out when his hand pulled out, and let it drop soundlessly onto Tifa's boot. He walked over to the switchboard, turned on the poisonous gas and quickly left the room.  
  
The frightened girl eyed her surroundings. The gas came out of tubes in intervals. She felt the heavy key on her foot. "What the...?" She thought, holding her breath. Excitedly, she shimmied the key to where she could grab it in her mouth and unlock the restraints. "I wonder if he was just that careless?" She asked to no one in particular. She turned off the gas on the switchboard. "Time to get out of here. I hope Barrett's all right."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/n: Ok, yes, yet another short chapter. But it was a bit more exciting than the last one. Hey! I updated a fic twice in one day! Yay! More emotion in the next chapter. Please review!  
  
~Kage 


	14. Reflections

A/n: Back again for the 14th chapter! I can't believe I've written this much, people. I didn't know it'd be this long of a story, but I hear that people like somewhat long stories. At least, I do. Ooh, I was hooked on Sanguine Depths by leannan for the longest time, waiting for updates... But Fanfiction.net booted it off the page! I was sooooo mad!! Ok, now I'm rambling, so I'll be quiet and start the chapter.  
  
Disclaimer: I've stated this 13+ times, do I have to repeat myself?  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Sir, Weapon's coming this way." Scarlet said, then adding hopefully, "The Sister Ray, sir?"  
  
Rufus waved his hand with disinterest, leaving Scarlet to interpret his actions as 'yes'. He sat in his office.  
  
"You know you can't get rid of me."  
  
The young man sighed. "I don't care. It doesn't matter anymore. I don't even have a life."  
  
The voice grinned into words. "You never did. The only use for you if any is being a shell for me. I will run this company through you, gaining more control everyday."  
  
Rufus grimaced.  
  
"Sir! Quickly, get out of the building! The Sister Ray has failed! It's shooting beams at us." A guard yelled nervously.  
  
The blonde smiled.  
  
"You heard them. Let's get out of here." The voice said, sounding edgy.  
  
Silence, then, "No, this is a sign. It's over." He looked into the distance, seeing the missile-like beams headed straight for him.  
  
"This is no time to joke! Get out of here! I'm trying to save your life! So you can... can... see that girl again!"  
  
Rufus shook his head. "She'll be better off without me. After what you made me do to her, there is nothing in the world to make me able to truly look her in the eye. I'd be too ashamed. I have nothing else to live for, all because of you. This way, I can't hurt her anymore." Memories flooded him, the soldier that threw Tifa to the ground, Scarlet's catfight with her, the soldiers that ruined her bar and punched her, the hurt look in her eye when he yelled at her to leave the building just a couple of months ago...  
  
"This company, dammit!"  
  
"You are the only one who needs me for this company. Besides, it looks like this city is done for; Meteor is headed straight for Midgar too. Face it, ShinRa is not liked, not by anyone on the planet, even the planet itself hates this company. So I'm saying goodbye." He stood facing the window, hoping to be the first thing hit by the blue lights.  
  
"What about your damn cat?"  
  
Dark Nations.  
  
"Reno'll take care of her." Rufus stated.  
  
"She hates Reno. You know that."  
  
Rufus closed his eyes. "She'll learn." The blonde haired, blue-eyed executive now stood still, blocking out the voice. A strand of gelled hard fell stiffly across his eyes. The icy mako eyes flashed one last time before the beams hit, a small one nicked him in the thigh, a large one headed straight for his head. An involuntary action made his knees collapse, the beam narrowly missing, blowing the computer behind him to pieces. The room shook; Rufus lay on the floor, unable to move, limbs frozen.  
  
He couldn't even kill himself without the controlling voice ruining his plans.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Tifa's eyes grew wide as she watched the footage of the ShinRa building blowing up and collapsing. Fear gripped her, she wondered if Rufus was still in there. "Not that I care..." She fooled herself.  
  
"Huh?" Yuffie, the sixteen-year-old ninja was confused.  
  
"Nothing. I think ShinRa's finally done for." Tifa said.  
  
Yuffie nodded. "Yup! Take that, ShinRa! That's for going to war with Wutai!"  
  
Tifa smile barely hid the tears that were being held back.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Reno stared at the T.V. monitor. "No way. Rufus was in there. He can't be gone..."  
  
A disgruntled Elena sat next to him. "Tseng's gone, my brother's gone... What happened, Reno? What went wrong along the way? Something's changed us."  
  
"Mako. We've become mindless zombies." Reno still stared at the screen, mesmerized by the damage being done to what had been his home for the past five years.  
  
"Well, what about Cloud? How come he's not a zombie?"  
  
"He is. Only, Sephiroth controls him. Must have some link to Cloud somehow to have control over him."  
  
"So... now what?" She asked, wiping tears from her cheeks.  
  
"Somehow you, Rude, and I need to get our lives back. We need to find Hojo and fix this."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/n: Yes I know, any excruciatingly short chapter. But I *am* posting a much longer chapter at the same time. So I should have chapter 14 and 15 up at the same time. Keep up the reviews guys! Love ya!  
  
~Kage 


	15. Meteor Aftermath

A/n: Ok, I'm starting this two seconds after I finished the last chapter. These two chapters should be going up together. And this *should* be a longer chapter. I dunno, we'll see, eh?  
  
Disclaimer: Ya know already!  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
It had been two weeks since Sephiroth had been defeated and Midgar destroyed, a whole month since the ShinRa building had been decimated. Now, nothing threatened the planet. Tifa had moved back to Nibelheim and started up a bar there. It held the best memories for her.  
  
Yuffie went back to Wutai after searching the ShinRa ruins for materia, immediately finding hundreds of the colorful little spheres.  
  
Vincent left to build a residence next to Lucrecia's Waterfall, he occasionally checked up on her.  
  
Barrett lived in Kalm with his daughter Marlene, they too stopped by often to say hello. Marlene was growing up fast, and beautifully too.  
  
Cloud had gone off to find Aerith after his vision following Sephiroth's defeat. No one had heard from him since then, but no one worried, either. They knew he needed the time alone to ponder his life.  
  
Cid went home to Shera and soon, to everyone's surprise, asked her to marry him. They still lived in Rocket Town, near the now-empty rocket tower.  
  
Cait Sith had broken down; Reeve had stopped by to pick up the talkative little robot.  
  
Red XIII stayed behind in Nibelheim to keep Tifa company.  
  
And Tifa herself was somewhat miserable.  
  
Of course, she was happy with her life, and she had Red XIII to keep her company, but there was a huge void in her life now. Sighing, she flipped the sign to 'closed'. Time for bed. She walked across the square to her house and went upstairs to change. But before she reached her room, she heard knocking on her front door. "Who could that be?"  
  
Red looked up from the couch. "I see a man standing outside, but it's too dark to see his features." He said, getting up to expect anything.  
  
Curious, Tifa opened the door slowly. "Yes?"  
  
A form in a dark blue suit, or what could be recognized as a suit anyway, stood in the dim moonlight. The coat was wrinkled, the shirt un-tucked, tie loosened... Emerald green eyes shone in the dark, and another pair of eyes the same color crouched low to the ground. "Tifa?"  
  
Her eyes widened. "Reno?!"  
  
"Yeah, it's me."  
  
She narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"  
  
He stepped forward into the light. "Heh, nice to see you too, Teef."  
  
Red XIII sniffed the air. "Who is that with you? I smell animal."  
  
"Yeah, that's what I came to you about." Reno stated.  
  
Tifa crossed her arms. "And what on earth makes you think I can trust you now?"  
  
"Teef, it's me Reno. I understand why you don't trust me, but I smashed the mako controls that Hojo had on us."  
  
Tifa, confused, stepped back. "Uh, ok. But try anything funny, and I'll kick your ass. Understand?"  
  
Reno grinned. He knew she could do it too. "Fair enough." He walked in; a dark figure strode in behind him.  
  
Tifa flipped on the light that she'd left off in her hurry to get to the door.  
  
A large panther, rather sad looking, blinked, getting used to the sudden light.  
  
Tifa jumped back. It was the same panther that Rufus had with him in his office. She now had a muzzle on.  
  
Rufus.  
  
His memory flooded Tifa's senses again.  
  
"I had to put a muzzle on her. She doesn't like me very much." Reno said, keeping a good five feet from himself to the large feline.  
  
Red chuckled to himself on the couch. "Hm, I wonder why." He whispered to himself.  
  
Dark Nation, finally used to the light, saw Tifa for the first time since Midgar. She trotted over to a surprised Tifa and nuzzled her hand.  
  
Tifa bent down to Dark Nation's eye level. "Reno, I'm gonna take the muzzle off. So you might wanna step back."  
  
The red head obliged very quickly.  
  
The black animal waited patiently for Tifa to take off the restraint.  
  
"There you go, girl." She said, smoothing the fur that had been misplaced by the muzzle.  
  
Dark Nation shook her head, finally free of the god-awful muzzle. She looked at Tifa with large green eyes – and pounced her.  
  
Reno and Red ran to Tifa's aid, only to find that Dark Nation was only licking her, not tearing her face off.  
  
Laughing, Tifa petted the panther's soft fur. "You're welcome."  
  
Reno helped Tifa off the floor. "Teef, I was wondering if you could keep her here for a while. This *thing* hates me, and Rufus would've wanted you too.  
  
Tifa narrowed her eyes. Saying that name was like opening an old wound.  
  
Reno sighed, knowing Tifa didn't understand the whole story. "Look, I can't really talk right now, I have someone waiting, but please don't be mad."  
  
She sighed. "I'll think about it."  
  
The Turk smiled. "Good 'ole Teef. Thanks again, see ya later!"  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
The environment was cold, dark, and damp. Cobalt blue eyes searched the surroundings for life and found none. "Hello?" He called out. Suddenly he heard giggling. "Who's there?"  
  
"Rufus..." A voice called.  
  
"What do you want? Who are you?" The young man tried to stand up.  
  
"Don't move! Otherwise you'll leave your body. You're in the Lifestream now." A girl stepped into the dim light. "I'm trying to help you. Now don't move."  
  
"Lifestream? Am I dead?"  
  
The girl smiled. "Not quite. But if you get up, you'll leave your body. You're a spirit right now, I guess you could say."  
  
Rufus looked up at the girl. She had bright green eyes and light brown hair, tied back in a braid. "Who are you?" He asked.  
  
She smiled again and leaned down next to him. "Aerith Gainsborough. You probably don't remember me; I was there when you fought Cloud on the balcony. Hehe, you were probably too smitten at the time with Tifa. In fact, I think you still are."  
  
Rufus turned his head to the side. "Yeah? What do you know about it?"  
  
She giggled. "I know that she was the last thing you thought about when you were close to dying."  
  
Rufus sighed. "What does it matter now? I'm dead now. Not to mention she hates me for what I did to her in Junon."  
  
Aerith frowned. "Don't you notice anything different?"  
  
The blonde thought. "Hey! No friggin' annoying voices!"  
  
She nodded. "Uh-huh. You're free, in a sense. Oh and by the way, you aren't dead. I told you, you're a spirit. Just don't leave your body, and if someone comes and rescues you anytime soon, you'll be ok."  
  
Rufus shook his head. "I'm doomed."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"All right, what do panthers eat, Red?"  
  
The large lion-like creature shook his head. "How should I know?"  
  
"Well, ask her!" Tifa chuckled.  
  
Red XIII turned to the dark creature and grumbled something.  
  
She purred something back.  
  
"She says she eats mean and certain types of cat food. Just none of the cheap stuff. Water is good, milk makes her sick." Red said with a certain degree of disinterest.  
  
Tifa smiled. "Well good, that's similar to what you eat. That makes it easier. Thanks for being a translator." She said, pouring some water into a dish for Dark Nations.  
  
Dark Nations lay on the couch where Red XIII had moved from, a sort of grin forming over her sharp teeth.  
  
Red XIII stared at the panther for a moment and growled. "Fine, you can have the couch, but I'm keeping my bed." He pouted, making Tifa laugh.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Are you ready to wake up yet?" A distant voice jarred him awake. "Welcome back! You've been out for nearly a month! You scared us a few times."  
  
He sat up a bit too quickly and winced at the sudden pain in his ribs.  
  
"Hey now, you've got some busted up ribs. Your leg's been healing up nicely now."  
  
He opened his eyes to see his awakener. A rather large nurse stood over him. "Where am I?" He managed to rasp out.  
  
The woman smiled. "Good! You *are* awake. You are in Kalm's volunteer hospital. You're one of the survivors of the Midgar tragedy. They told me they had to dig for a while to get to you. You were in the wreckage of the ShinRa building, and they barely got you out before the Meteor hit. Whoo, there's been a lot going on lately. All right hon, we finally get to find out who you are. What's your name?"  
  
The last thing he needed was a big fuss and media to follow him around. "Uh... I'm... Russell. I think. I mean, I guess I don't really know. Is my name Russell?" He lied skillfully, one of the few gifts his father had given him.  
  
The nurse sighed and wrote down the name. "Well drat. I guess I was hoping for a little much if you were out for a month and expected to remember your name. You'll get it back sooner or later. Hey, you know, you remind me of someone. I'm not quite sure who..."  
  
He shook his head. "Hey, I'm really hungry..."  
  
The nurse snapped out of her thought and gasped. "Oh, I'm so sorry. You've been out for so long I guess you would be hungry." She laughed at herself. "I'm such a scatterbrain."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Reno kicked a piece of plaster to the side. "It's no use. Even if we did find him, he'd be long gone."  
  
Elena's eyes clouded with tears. "Oh Reno, I know, but even so, I think he should have a proper burial."  
  
The tall Turk gave her a tissue. "I know. But as many times as we've searched the perimeter, I think we'd have found him by now. He *was* on the top floor."  
  
She looked up at him. "You mean he could be alive, somewhere else?"  
  
Reno shrugged. "It's very possible. The mako would've helped him out. Rude! Get information on patients from surrounding hospitals."  
  
The bald Turk walked to him, papers in hand. "Way ahead of you."  
  
Reno grinned. "Good man. Lessee. Elena, you check out the hospitals set up around what's left of Midgar, Rude, you get Junon, and I'll get Kalm."  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Russell, you have a visitor. Maybe they can help you remember who you are." A doctor called into the room.  
  
"Who is it?"  
  
The doctor shrugged. "He just said 'a friend'."  
  
"Whatever."  
  
A head, topped with fire red hair, poked around the corner. "Hey, *Russell*, how's it goin'?  
  
Rufus grinned. "Reno, how'd you find me?"  
  
The Turk walked in. "Well, we couldn't find you in the rubble. So we figgered you were still alive." He chuckled. "Russell? Is that the best you could come up with?"  
  
The injured man rolled his blue eyes. "It was spur of the moment. I didn't want to get swamped by reporters while I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my life now that I have nothing left."  
  
"I see. So how are you holding up?"  
  
Rufus shrugged. "Well, I have two broken ribs, a hell of a scar on my thigh, and some huge bruises. I'm surprised the damage was so minimal."  
  
Reno shook his head laughing. "I'm not. You had the biggest shot of mako of us all. The maximum amount plus a little extra. The only other person who had more that you was Sephiroth. What *I'm* surprised about is that you're not in the loony bin."  
  
"I probably should be. Right after dad died, I literally lost control of myself. I even heard voices in my head."  
  
The Turk smiled. "Yeah, well you're not the only one. But it was the mako. Hojo had control over us all."  
  
A thought struck Rufus. "Reno, where's Dark Nation?" He asked in a worried tone.  
  
"She's ok. She's the one that tried to bite *my* hand off. She's in Nibelheim."  
  
He quirked an eyebrow. "Why, who is she staying with? Elena?"  
  
Reno shook his head. "No, actually I left her in the most capable hands."  
  
"Rude?"  
  
Reno sighed. "No, man. I'll give you a hint. Her name starts with a 'T'..."  
  
Rufus' eyes widened. "Tifa?" Her memory was the only thing keeping him from sinking into a depression. With the loss of many people in the company, in the city, all caused by him, he was haunted with guilt. "So, she's taking care of her? Does she know I'm alive?"  
  
"No, *I* just found out you were alive. Everyone thinks you're dead. The banks are holding the remainder of the ShinRa fortune, just in case you are found alive." He smiled.  
  
Rufus sighed. "How's Tifa?"  
  
His friend shrugged. "Good, she's just opened up a new bar in Nibelheim. The lion-thing, Red XIII, is staying with her. Kinda like a bodyguard."  
  
"He wouldn't hurt Dark Nation, would he?"  
  
Reno laughed. It had been a long time since he'd heard Rufus sound concerned about something. That cat was the only thing beside Tifa that Rufus truly cared for. "I don't think Tifa'd let him. She and Darkie bonded like *that*" He snapped for emphasis.  
  
Rufus nodded. "Reno, have someone fix up the old Nibelheim mansion. I'm going to move back. Have them fix it up exactly as it was. I'm getting out of this god-forsaken hospital tomorrow."  
  
His friend nodded. "Ok, but aren't you still injured?"  
  
"Don't worry about it Reno, just go."  
  
The Turk playfully saluted and left the room.  
  
"The good thing about having a little extra mako..." he thought, closing his eyes, focusing on his ribs. "...is instant cure." Soon he felt good as new, yet he was too late to cure the wound on his thigh since it was already scarring. But the open wounds were now gone.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A/n: Ok, I'm going to leave it there for now. Sorry this took so long guys. We just recently got done with the play "South Pacific" and I was on prop committee, and chorus, and babysitter for the little actors. *Headache* They were monsters!!! Anywhoo, I hope you enjoyed this rather long chapter. Its mainly filler, but you gotta know where everyone is! Please review!! 


	16. Back Home

A/n: Hey guys, here again with another chapter! Coming close to the end, just to warn you. Oh, and I'm just a little depressed. Our softball team went to State Championship, and we were in the last game to finish it off, and we were winning 3-0. But in the 6th inning, they hit a couple of good ones in the holes and got 4. So we lost 4-3. And I'm a senior, so this was my last high school softball game! Cry Oh well, at least we got that far, State Runner-up. Ok, sorry rambling. Please read and review!!  
  
Disclaimer: I claim nothing but the storyline.  
  
"What on earth is going on?" Tifa said groggily, waking up for the third time to sawing, hammering, and other sounds of construction.  
  
"Well it seems they are rebuilding the ShinRa mansion." Red XIII sauntered into her bedroom, a rather agitated Dark Nation behind him.  
  
"Wha? Who's 'they'?" She asked, burying herself with blankets. The loud noises outside were muffled, but no quieter.  
  
"What's left of the Turks."  
  
"Why?" Tifa whined.  
  
Sighing, Red XIII shook his head. "I'll find out. You want to go with me?" He asked the two females.  
  
The pile of blankets shook. "No..."  
  
Dark Nation soundlessly jumped onto the bed and hid under the covers too.  
  
Red rolled his eyes and left the room.  
  
"I hear they're just rebuilding it as a museum. Ya know, to get people to remember ShinRa forever."  
  
"Why would they do that when we have those damn reactors to remind us?"  
  
Tifa watched the two old women gossip about the rebuilding of the mansion. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed some cat food off the shelf.  
  
Another old woman joined the group. "Actually I heard that young Rufus himself is still alive and kicking, and he's coming back to stay here in Nibelheim." The other two ladies burst out laughing.  
  
Tifa's heart skipped a beat.  
  
"No possible way. Who could have possibly lived through the collapse of that gargantuan building anyway? He's not a super human." The ladies moved to gossip elsewhere, leaving Tifa alone in the aisle.  
  
"If anyone could live thorough it, it'd be Rufus. If he is alive, I hope it's a good thing. Maybe falling sixty-six floors knocked some sense into him." Her thoughts told her. That old feeling started to burn in her again.  
  
"Hey! Watch it you goon!" A young voice snapped her from her thoughts. Apparently a young boy had walked into someone.  
  
Reno tripped into the aisle. "Little twerp! You hear what he called me?" He jammed his hands into his pockets. His eyes widened. "Hey! That kid took twenty bucks from me!"  
  
Tifa couldn't help but grin at the memory. "It seems the legend of Reno is still being told."  
  
Surprised, the Turk blushed. "I did do that back then, didn't I?" He said, reminiscing about their childhood.  
  
"Reno, what's going on at the mansion? You aren't starting ShinRa again, are you?" She started to ask about Rufus, but couldn't bring herself to it, fearing the answer would crush her newly rekindled hope.  
  
Reno took on an evil grin. "Wouldn't you like to know?"  
  
"If you go psycho Turk on me again..." She threatened.  
  
He merely grinned more. "You'll see Teef. It's a surprise."  
  
Rufus stared out the window, reaching out a hand beside him, remembering briefly that Dark Nation was gone after he felt no warm fur. His bedroom, rather his parent's old master bedroom had been the first to be remodeled, and the mansion was almost completed after only two weeks. The workers would be gone the next day. A sight below Rufus caused him to jump with anxiousness.  
  
Tifa was crossing the square below, from her house to the bar.  
  
There she was. The essence of perfection. How had she slipped through his fingers so many times before?  
  
Elena strolled into the room carrying a tray. "Hey Rufus, your dinner is ready." When he didn't respond, she came up behind him to see what was so interesting. The only action was Tifa Lockheart flipping the 'closed' sign to 'open'. "Ah. I see... Got the hots for Lockheart, eh?"  
  
Much to Rufus' dismay, Reno strolled in also. "Yep. He sure does. He has since we were kids. She had a crush on him too."  
  
The blonde shook his head. "Key word: 'HAD'. She hates me now. I did something unforgivable to her."  
  
Elena blinked, Reno quirked an eyebrow. "What could you have possible done to Tifa?" The lanky Turk laughed nervously, knowing that while Rufus was under mako control, he could have done anything to Tifa while they had her in custody. A growing fear that Rufus had done something horribly, horribly wrong crept into both the Turks minds.  
  
Rufus sighed. "Go away." He said, gruffly.  
  
"No, it's best to get it out now." His sister urged.  
  
He sighed again. "Fine. In Junon, I... I..."  
  
"Well? You what?" Reno gently insisted, fear growing larger.  
  
"I sort of... advanced on her... sexually."  
  
Elena's eyes widened. "Rufus!"  
  
Fear washed away, Reno gave a big sigh of relief. He twirled a finger in the air. "Whoop-di-freaking-do. Guys at the bar do that to her all the time. She can handle herself."  
  
"Yeah, but now I'm no better than one of them. I don't deserve her."  
  
His sister stood for a moment, contemplating an excuse (something she was good at). "Well, tell her the truth. You were under the control of mako."  
  
Reno shrugged. "Just invite her to dinner. If she accepts, then you know you still have a chance. If she declines... Well, she won't decline. I may have been an enemy of Tifa's for a few years, but I still know her like a sister."  
  
Elena nodded. "Yeah, that way you can get your pet back too."  
  
That night, or more accurately, the next early morning, Tifa sleepily turned over the sign again. She trudged, half asleep to her door, opened it, and entered. "Red?"  
  
"Yes?" The intelligent animal answered from his bedroom.  
  
"Anything happen while I was working?"  
  
Red XIII sauntered down the stairs. "Yes. That man with the fire- hair came back with this piece of paper." The aptly named lion creature carried an envelope in his mouth.  
  
"Thanks. Hm, what's this?" The fancy envelope with a raised floral design was illuminated by the soft moonglow. She opened it slowly, pulling out a piece of stationary that had the same design as the envelope.  
  
"Ms. Lockheart, (She shuddered at this formal title; it reminded her of Rufus' cold voice sneering at her) you are invited to dinner at the recently remodeled ShinRa Mansion. Semi-formal. Please be there at 7:00, sharp. Please bring Dark Nation."  
  
Tifa stared at the paper, rereading it. There was no name signed to it. Could Rufus possibly be alive? If so, the thought of his being evil didn't help the decision to go. She plopped onto the couch.  
  
Had Reno just pretended to be nice to her again? What if there were going to kidnap her and use her as bait against her friends? A nudge against her leg startled her.  
  
"Grrrrrowwl?" Dark Nation pushed against her leg with her oversized paw.  
  
Tifa smiled. "You're up early."  
  
The large cat purred, then catching a scent in the air, started sniffing at the invitation. She growled happily and pulled on Tifa's sleeve.  
  
"Ok, ok, I guess I could do it for you. If I take you back to the mansion, you promise to not turn on me and protect me if they try to kidnap me?"  
  
Dark Nation purred loudly and rubbed her head against Tifa's leg.  
  
She sighed. "All right. I'll take a nap, get up at noon, take a shower and get ready, ok?"  
  
A/n: Ok, yes a short chapter, but there is another on the way shortly. Senior year is almost over!!! Whoo hoo! Only bad thing is Finals are this week. Wish me luck!! As always, I ask you to review!!!  
  
Kage3 


	17. Meeting Once Again

A/n: Yay! School is officially over! Now I have to go to work. Boo. Oh well. A little birdie told me that generalquistis might draw me another ficpic! Thanks again to her for the drawing she did for me earlier! By the way it's still on her web page Bloodstained Sniffle She's so nice! I also want to thank all of you for your reviews again! Keep it up; I need the advice, comments, questions, etc. Anywhoo, on with the last few chapters!  
  
Disclaimer: Blah Blah, just the storyline is mine.  
  
"So what are you planning on wearing tonight?" Reno asked Elena somewhat carefully. He had tried to be a lot nicer to her since the incident back in Wutai.  
  
"I don't know. We're allowed to wear something other than our uniforms?" She asked, picking up the sincerity in his voice, knowing that he was trying to make amends.  
  
Reno nodded. "Yeah. Unfortunately, I don't have anything but uniforms."  
  
Elena chuckled. "Well, let's see, why don't you wear some nice slacks and a button down shirt?  
  
"I have these suits. That's it. I lost the rest of my clothes in the collapse." He said, doing a 360 for her.  
  
She giggled. "Then lets go get you some. K?"  
  
He shrugged. "K, but can we take Rufus? He hasn't had any normal clothes since we were kids." He dropped to a whisper. "Plus, I really think he needs to go outside. He's going a little nuts..."  
  
The blonde Turk shrugged. "If he wants to go."  
  
"I'll go ask him really quick." He left the room, headed to the kitchen where Rufus was supervising the chefs. Reno could tell they were tired of the President telling them how to do their job, but were too scared of losing their job to kick him out of the kitchen. "Hey, Ruf, wanna come with us to go look at regular casual clothes?" He said, stressing the last part, knowing that would get his friend's attention.  
  
Rufus, torn between dictating and going to look at something he hadn't worn for years, looked back and forth between the chefs and Reno. "You." He said, pointing to a rather fat chef.  
  
"Sir?" The chef replied, trembling.  
  
"I'll leave you in charge."  
  
A chorus of relieved sighs caused Rufus to quirk an eyebrow and Reno to laugh out loud.  
  
"Styles haven't changed much since we were kids, Ruf-man"  
  
"I know. But I'm debating on whether I should wear my white ensemble. It's kind of reminiscent of bad times. But then again, I actually like it. If I was evil for a while, why did I wear white?" He pondered that while looking through racks of blue jeans and slacks; waiting for Reno to emerge from the dressing room.  
  
"Are you coming out of there or not?!" Elena banged on the door. "Do I have to come in there and drag you out?"  
  
Reno called back through the door, obviously smiling, "As nice an offer as that is, 'Lena, I'd rather you not just yet."  
  
Rufus yawned. "Hurry up, we don't have all day." He said impatiently.  
  
"All right, all right!" The male Turk whined. The door unlocked and opened, Reno stepped forth in ironed slacks, nice shoes, and white button- down shirt tucked in for once, the top few buttons carelessly left undone. A sports jacket finished the look. "Well, how do I look?"  
  
Elena's mouth fell open. "You look... nice for once... I mean... No offense." She said embarrassedly and breathlessly.  
  
Rufus laughed. "I'll have to agree with her on that, Reno. Your Turk uniform has to be the most wrinkled item of clothing on the planet.  
  
Reno shrugged. "Just the way I wear clothes, I guess."  
  
Back at the mansion, seven o'clock was close at hand. "'Lena, you ready yet? Almost show time." Reno knocked on Elena's door.  
  
A muffled voice came through the door. "Not yet, I still have to fix my hair and stuff."  
  
"I'm sure your hair looks fine, 'Lena. Just come out here. This isn't a fancy formal thing. Its just Tifa." A short pause followed his statement.  
  
The door slowly opened as Elena stepped out. She wore a black calf- length dress that gently hugged her womanly curves. The muscles in her lower legs she'd gotten in Turk training were shown off by wearing black pumps. Spaghetti straps and a semi-modest neckline accentuated her graceful collarbone and rounded cleavage.  
  
Reno smiled at her blushing demeanor, knowing that if he made a crude comment, she'd kick his ass with those high heels, and it'd hurt. But he couldn't have made a crude comment, even if he did try. As far back as he could remember, he'd only made comments to women, never really had an interest in actually having a long-term relationship. He also remembered a few one-night stands he could have done without. But for the first time in his life, he could actually see himself married to Elena.  
  
She was one of the only women whose wit was as sharp as his, one of the only people able to hold her own against him, and she rarely showed fear. In fact, the only time he'd seen her frightened was when he himself threatened to hit her.  
  
He winced at the memory, but continued to smile. "You look great Elena. Absolutely perfect."  
  
Biting her lip, she turned around and timidly said, "Are you sure?"  
  
"Positive."  
  
"Thanks Reno. Ok, let's go."  
  
Tifa took a deep breath and took a step forward what might be her doom.  
  
Dark Nation pushed her from behind, furry head nudging against her legs.  
  
"All right, all right!" She said impatiently to the panther. She raised her arm to ring the mansion doorbell.  
  
Her fluffy companion purred happily. (She had been given a bath before Tifa even started getting ready, and that was no easy task.)  
  
Tifa took another deep breath. "I'm counting on you, girl."  
  
Inside, Reno and Elena stood at the door. "She's here! I'll answer the door, introduce her to you 'Lena, then lead her to the table. Ok?" Reno asked.  
  
Elena nodded. "K."  
  
The redheaded Turk opened the door. "Hello, Teef. Welcome to the ShinRa Mansion. I know you two have met, maybe not personally, but this is Elena ShinRa, Rufus' half-sister.  
  
Tifa smiled, trying to hide feelings of fear, and shook Elena's hand.  
  
Dark Nation growled at Reno.  
  
"Hello to you too, girl. Alrighty, Teef, this way. Oh, and don't be so nervous."  
  
Darkie followed right behind as Tifa followed Reno to a large dining area. An empty dining area.  
  
"Uh, Teef, why don't you sit down? I'll be right back, k? Elena, stay with her till I come back." He said loudly so Tifa could hear. "Our great leader is MIA." He whispered to Elena.  
  
"I feel sick." He thought, pacing back and forth. "What am I going to say? I can't look her straight in the eye. I've caused her too much pain already." The Junon interrogation room flashed in his brain. "First I attack her, then I sentence her to death. I doubt she going to forget about that."  
  
"Hey, there you are Ruf. We're all waiting for you in the dining room. Teef's here, and Dark Nation." Reno's voice startled Rufus.  
  
"I... I'm not going."  
  
The taller man quirked an eyebrow. "...Wha? Dude, you can't back out now! She actually came. That means she still has a soft spot for ya. Don't you dare give up now. I thought you were different from your father?"  
  
Rufus visually shot Reno with an icy cold stare. "Don't you ever compare me to my father Reno."  
  
Reno's own emerald eyes stared back. "Then prove to me, Rufus, that you're better than him. That you won't give up."  
  
With one last glare, Rufus turned on his heel and walked from the room, shaking his head.  
  
Reno merely grinned in his triumph.  
  
"So how long have you known Rufus?" Elena asked the brunette guest.  
  
Tifa thought back a ways. "Hmm, I'd say... off and on since we were twelve."  
  
Elena nodded. "Wow. I've only known him personally since I was seventeen. My mother was on of President ShinRa's mistresses. She thought she'd get money out of it, at the time, she didn't know he was married, or really even who he was. That was when ShinRa just started to get going as a huge corporation. Then I was born and he didn't want anything to do with Mom." She paused.  
  
"Mom didn't have the gall to turn the media on him so that she could get any money or jobs or anything. Then, when I was seventeen, I met Rufus on the streets of Midgar. Imagine his surprise when I told him we were brother and sister. He helped me get a job here and helped my mom and I get back on our feet. Neither of us knew what the mako would do to us once we started working." The blonde told her story with a smile up until mako was mentioned.  
  
"Mako?" Tifa inquired.  
  
"Yeah, when dad made Rufus go to training, they injected a lot of mako into him. More than a human should be given. Mako is an enhancer; speed, strength, senses, all are amplified. Technically, Rufus was mako poisoned, but differently from the way your friend Cloud was. My brother was under Hojo's control, which was under our father's order. Hojo was one to make sure the job is done correctly." Elena took a sip of wine.  
  
Putting down the glass, she continued. "After your team killed Hojo, Reno destroyed his lab where the mako control was. We were all under control. President ShinRa made sure he'd have more power, even after he died. Somehow Rufus survived the mako poisoning, and the collapse, ended up in a charity hospital, and then we found him and started to rebuild the mansion. Basically that's it, I think you're pretty much up to date."  
  
Tifa's mouth had been hanging open the entire story. It all made sense. It all fit. But she still didn't know about the trust issue. "That was a pretty elaborate story to just cook up though..." She thought. She stared off, thing about what Rufus had done, and how it started to make sense. He could be good again... couldn't he?  
  
"Hey Tifa."  
  
The brunette was shaken from her thoughts. "Hm?"  
  
"Uh, how'd you escape from ShinRa both times? How'd you get the keys to the vehicles, and then also get out of the gas chamber?" Elena was perplexed about these two occurrences.  
  
Tifa smiled, looking back. "Rufus helped me."  
  
Elena looked confused. "How? I mean, with as much mako in him, I don't see how his body, being highly controlled, would have allowed it."  
  
Tifa shrugged. "I have no idea."  
  
"All right ladies, we're here!" Reno announced, marching ahead of Rufus, who was looking straight at the floor.  
  
No sooner than the man clad in pure white walked in, Dark Nation bounded toward her beloved master.  
  
Rufus, smiling, braced himself for the full effect of Dark Nation's  
pounce.  
  
She stood on her hind legs and placed her paws on his shoulders, full weight into the push. She nuzzled her head against him, begging to be petted.  
  
"Good to see you too again, old friend." Rufus said, petting her dark, soft fur. He looked up from his panther and spotted Tifa, standing by the dining table, looking at him and smiling. He had decided to wear his original outfit, it made him look even more handsome that he already was. Any other suit made him look, for lack of a better word, too business-y. But he'd left his hair without gel. It was his own sign of freedom. He glanced at Tifa again.  
  
She wore a black dress that fell just above her knees with a slight slit at the thigh, accenting the curves of her legs. The style of the dress drew attention away from her more than ample breasts, but focused more on her slender waist and wide hips. Her hair was down and she was wearing a small amount of makeup. Without her trademark hair-tie, she almost looked more grown-up than she did when it was tied back.  
  
Her eyes locked with his, lingering only a moment before he lost nerve and again looked at his pet.  
  
Tifa smiled to herself again.  
  
Elena wandered over to Reno. "Hey." She whispered. "I think Tifa gained some confidence."  
  
Reno nodded. "Yeah, I see that. What did you girls talk about?"  
  
She shrugged. "I just explained the whole mako deal, told her how I met Rufus, you know, that kind of thing."  
  
"Hm, interesting. Well, Rufus won't admit it, but I know he's stressing over whether she's pissed off at him about what he did in the past year."  
  
Elena shook her head. "He's got nothing to worry about, she understands now, I think."  
  
Tifa broke the awkward silence between herself and Rufus. "Hello, Rufus. How have you been?" She asked, still smiling.  
  
Rufus looked up again, barely glancing into her eyes, heart beating faster. "Been better. You?"  
  
"Pretty good lately. I've started up a new bar here. Been good business, lots of customers." Little by little, Tifa's confident fiery ember eyes caught more hold over Rufus' own icy blue eyes, melting his fear.  
  
Finally Rufus couldn't take it anymore. "Tifa, look, I want to apologize for everything I did to you and your friends. I truly am sorry. You are the last person I ever wanted to hurt. But I couldn't control myself... I..."  
  
Tifa silenced him with a raised hand. "You already apologized, remember? In Midgar when you helped me escape from the headquarters. I kinda understand now, you couldn't really control yourself. So, it's not your fault. I don't blame you." She said, smiling.  
  
Rufus, surprised, stared at her with unbelieving eyes.  
  
"I think you're just the same now as you were when you were eighteen. Just a little older." Tifa continued, half-giggling from his expression. "You had me worried though, when you started being evil. Even more worried when I was in the interrogation room. In fact, I was scared out of my wits."  
  
Rufus closed his eyes. "Oh, sure she had to bring that up." He thought. "That's what I want to apologize for most, Tifa. But it wasn't me."  
  
"I know," She walked up to him. "I'm just glad you're back." She wrapped her arms around his torso.  
  
Still surprised, he managed to wrap one arm around her.  
  
She looked up at him and grinned. "Rufus ShinRa! Are you too good to hug an old friend?"  
  
He smiled down at her and enveloped her in a warm hug.  
  
Elena smiled and sighed with a schoolgirl demeanor.  
  
Reno grinned. "Er EM. Dinnertime." He said, interrupting the moment.  
  
Elena turned to him. "RENO!!"   
  
A/n: Wow, it is now 12:50, and I am done with this chapter. And it's a halfway decent length! I need input! I have a piece written that goes in between this and the ending. It's really kind of irrelevant to the ending of the story, but it explains why Red XIII didn't go with her for more protection, you know? Should I include that, or just go ahead and go to the ending? I need feedback please!! So send your thoughts and review this chapter for me please!! Thanks, love ya!  
  
Kage3 


	18. Harsh Words

A/n: Well, I didn't get any reviews telling me not to put in this chapter, so I'm going to write it anyway. I think this fic has two good chapters left in it! Anyways, after I'm done typing the rest of this fic, I'm going to focus more on Beauty, Love, Trust. But that'll be after I get back from my vacation in Florida!! I'm leaving on the 3rd, and be back around the 12th. But anyway, I need feedback still; I like to know your thoughts on how I'm doing! Thanks!  
  
Disclaimer: Nothing but the storyline is mine.

oOoOoOoOo

"So did Dark Nation behave when she stayed with you?" Rufus queried, taking a sip of wine that matched Tifa's crimson depths.  
  
"Of course. She was very sweet. A little spoiled, but very well behaved."  
  
Dark Nation purred to Tifa's answer.  
  
"I think after Red XIII got used to her, he enjoyed her stay too." Tifa giggled. "I think he's formed a crush on her."  
  
"I'm surprised you didn't bring him with you, Teef. You seemed really nervous when you came here tonight." Reno noted, raising an eyebrow.  
  
Tifa shrugged. "Well, I was actually, but I couldn't find him. Besides, after Elena told me what went on, I knew Red XIII would have been bored."  
  
A woman from the kitchen walked in. "Miz Lockheart, are you feeneeshed wis your plate? And voulez-vous want dessert?"  
  
Tifa smiled. "I'm done, but no thanks on the dessert. I'm stuffed."  
  
Reno piped up. "I'll take some dessert!"  
  
Elena looked at him. "How on earth you eat that much and stay skinny is beyond me. You just finished your third plate!"  
  
As the four ate and talked, they didn't realize that they were being watched from the dining room window by two aqua blue, mako powered eyes.  
  
A curious Dark Nation padded over to the window, but the pair of eyes had disappeared by the time she sniffed to investigate.  
  
Rufus, who was halfway occupied by laughing at one of Reno's jokes, paid no mind to his panther sniffing at the now empty window. "Dark Nation, come on girl. We're going outside." He called to his pet.  
  
The 'backyard' of the mansion had been transformed into a beautiful garden. Hibiscuses were planted at each corner of the yard and rosebushes lined the fences. There were plenty of trees; the landscaping was gorgeous.  
  
"Wow. It looks better now than it did so many years ago." Tifa commented.  
  
Rufus nodded. "Yeah. Dad never had anyone take care of it."  
  
The barmaid smiled. "You're much better at taking care of things than your dad. You took care of me, even when it was near impossible for you to do."  
  
Rufus smiled at her, then upon hearing something behind them, tuned to see Elena and Reno, making out madly, oblivious to Rufus and Tifa's gaping stares. "Heh... Let's leave them alone." He said.  
  
Tifa smiled. "Good idea."  
  
After they had found a concrete bench (away from the smooching noises), Tifa looked up at the stars and sat down. "So, now what are you going to do?" She asked her blonde companion.  
  
"Well, I figure I can still run an electric company, but run on different energy. Mako is too precious... and dangerous... to be used. I don't plan on running cities or towns. You're not planning on going anywhere, are you?" He queried, hopeful.  
  
"Nah, not anytime soon. I'm gonna hire some people so I can take more time off, though. Working all the time is killing me." She said as Rufus sat down by her.  
  
Darkie, who was purring happily under Tifa and Rufus' constant petting, suddenly snapped into a defensive pose and sniffed the air. Unnoticed by the couple, she padded over to some bushes.  
  
"So where's the rest of the group you were in?" The young president asked.  
  
Tifa rolled her eyes. "They all went their separate ways. You'd think saving the world would have made some people content." She said, rather unhappily.  
  
Rufus chuckled. "And your boyfriend?" He teased.  
  
Hiding a grin, she playfully glared at him. "Don't start that again. Both that and you calling me 'Ms. Lockheart' freaked me out."  
  
He chuckled again, but the good mood was soon spoiled by a feline howl and hiss, a thud, and the image of Dark Nation flying backward from a bush and land a few feet away from them. "What the...?" Rufus looked over the bush that Darkie had been thrown from.  
  
Tifa ran to see if she was badly injured.  
  
"Who's there?" Rufus called out.  
  
A pair of glowing eyes glared from the bush. "Let her go, ShinRa. Damn, I thought we were finally rid of you!" A deep voice rumbled.  
  
"Cloud?" Tifa whispered, wondering why in the world he'd be there at the mansion.  
  
"I'm not keeping her here. She can leave if she wants, Strife." Rufus said calmly.  
  
A cold laugh chilled the air as Cloud stepped from his hiding place, Cid close behind. "Somehow I find that hard to believe."  
  
Tifa stood up after Dark Nation got to her feet. "Cloud, I'm fine. Why are you here?"  
  
Tifa's remark surprised the spiky blonde haired leader, yet he maintained his conviction. "I'm here because I heard ShinRa was rising again. I can't believe you're still alive, ShinRa, but I'm here to put and end to you an your stupid company."  
  
Cid piped up. "And he ain't here alone."  
  
Barrett showed up, Reno dragging limp behind him. A man Tifa recognized as Vincent had Elena slumped over one shoulder. She was out cold, as was Reno.  
  
Red XIII trotted up next to Cloud, Yuffie made her presence known up in a tree. "Tifa, are you ok?" She asked her friend.  
  
"Yuffie, I'm fine! You are all crazy! There's nothing wrong. Even if there was, you don't think I could take care of myself?"  
  
Cloud whispered something to Cid, who made a surprised face that turned grim. He nodded, and seeing this, Yuffie jumped from the tree and knocked Tifa unconscious.  
  
Dark Nation hissed at the teenage girl.  
  
"What the hell is your people's problem? She's one of your friends! She didn't do anything wrong. What did you do that for?!" Rufus neared Tifa's unconscious body, but Yuffie held up her shuriken.  
  
"You brainwashed her, you pompous piece of crap!" She exclaimed.  
  
Flooded with emotion, Rufus neared his bursting point. "You idiots! If I had brainwashed her, don't you think I would have used her against you? Don't you think I'd have a weapon ready? She came here on her own will, brought me back my cat, and was not threatened the entire time. You are the one's hurting her! I didn't knock her senseless." He half calmly explained.  
  
"You ShinRa are crafty thinkers. Who knows what was going on in that corrupted brain of yours? Let's finish this now." Cloud said, getting into battle stance.  
  
"I won't fight you. I have no reason. I am not your enemy; you're not mine. Yes, I'm beginning ShinRa again, but I'm not using mako as an energy source anymore. I'll use other forms of energy." Rufus growled, patience growing thin.  
  
"Bullshit. Do you expect me to believe your lies?" Cloud asked, chuckling.  
  
Vincent looked from one blonde man to the other. Maybe the president was telling the truth. Vincent had known Rufus as a young child up until the Lucrecia incident. He remembered that Rufus had always opposed and hated his father, acting totally opposite of the old president. Yet, Rufus' recent behavior after he was appointed president baffled the ex- Turk. Vincent adjusted his mechanical claw. He wouldn't put it past Hojo to control someone. And Tifa had even stood up for Rufus, and she was one member of AVALANCHE who hated ShinRa more than anything.  
  
The tall dark haired man set Elena down. "Cloud, let's go. Leave Tifa, let Reno and the blonde girl go. All right?"  
  
Cloud stared at Vincent as if he'd never heard him talk before. "Are you crazy? And let him get away? So are you turning traitorous on us?"  
  
Vincent stared back at Cloud with blood red eyes. "No, I am saying we are leaving Rufus, we'll be keeping an eye on you. I have a feeling Tifa is safe with you right now, but if you hurt one hair on her head, or let anything bad happen to her, you will not only be answering to Cloud, but to me as well." Vincent said with an icy composure that even made Rufus shiver.  
  
The young president nodded in agreement.  
  
Cloud, half pouting, half fuming, stomped toward the front gate. "Vincent, you'd better be right about this." He called over his shoulder.  
  
Barrett stared at Rufus on his way out; Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him, right before dodging a swipe from Dark Nation.  
  
Vincent walked out the front gate, followed closely by Cid. "I'd better be right about this..." The shadowed man thought.  
  
Red XIII stared at Rufus. "I'll be back after I make sure there aren't any conflicts in the group. I'm going to be the one to make sure you treat Ms. Tifa with the utmost respect." He trotted off after Vincent and Cid.

oOoOoOoOo  
  
Tifa slowly opened her eyes, adjusting to the light. "Where... Where am I?" She asked, slowly sitting up. A sharp pain shot down from her neck through her spine. "Oh, right, Yuffie knocked me out."  
  
"Hey! Lie back down! You've got a nasty bump on the back of your head. We need to make sure you don't have a concussion."  
  
Tifa, startled by the voice, turned to see Rufus walking toward her with an ice pack, a damp washcloth draped over his arm, and a glass of ice water.  
  
He had taken off his over coat and sports jacket, and rolled up the sleeves of his tight turtleneck to his elbows. "I'm surprised you're up already. Reno and Elena are still out cold."  
  
Tifa looked around, shrugging. "Reno'll probably be embarrassed that he got caught off guard. Where are we?" She asked, still looking around the nicely decorated room. She was lying on a huge bed.  
  
"This is my room. I put Reno and Elena in their rooms, there weren't any other bedrooms, and I wanted you to be comfortable, so I carried you in here." He said, lifting her head gently to apply the ice pack.  
  
She smiled at him. "Thanks."  
  
He smiled back at her, the same smile he'd first given her in the Golden Saucer. "No problem." He put the cool washcloth on her forehead and put the ice water to her lips. "Here, I thought you'd like something to drink." He looked into her eyes, at first checking for concussion, but soon he got lost in those wine colored pools.  
  
Noticing that he was staring at her, she turned slightly red and changed the subject. "So, what happened while I was out?"  
  
Rufus stopped his deep gaze and turned to the side. "Strife thought I brainwashed you and he tried to start a fight with me. Then, the dark one with the cape, he seems familiar, he took my side and told Cloud to back off. Then they all left. He made me promise not to harm a hair on your head or I'd have not only Cloud to deal with, but him too."  
  
Tifa smiled. "Ah, Vincent Valentine. Most of the time he's really sweet, and he's got a sixth sense about people, but there are times when he's just creepy."  
  
"Vincent Valentine? That name sounds familiar. Oh yeah! He used to be a Turk. I knew I'd seen his face before. But he disappeared when I was still a kid. He was the closest thing to a friend that I had back then. But right after Lucrecia died giving birth to Sephiroth, he just disappeared. He looked a lot different tonight."  
  
Tifa nodded. "Yeah, Hojo got a hold of him. After he experimented on him, he put him here in the basement where he slept for a long time."  
  
"Well, at least he remembered how I was before I went crazy." Rufus mused, turning the washcloth over on Tifa's head.  
  
Suddenly the two heard a deep voice yell out in pain, "Ow, shit!!"  
  
They shared a laugh. "Reno must be up. I'll go check on him. You can stay here tonight while you heal. It's kind of late, so it's pointless for you to go home just to go to bed when you can stay here. I'll stay on the couch in the den."  
  
Tifa looked up at him. "No, I can't take your bed from you! I'll sleep on the couch."  
  
"I won't hear it. You're a guest and a good friend. I'm sleeping on the couch, and that's that." Rufus said, walking from the room.  
  
When he was done tending to the two Turks, Rufus walked back into his room. "Tifa, how are you—" He stopped short when he saw she was sleeping.  
  
She had pulled the covers to her chin, and the only visible part of her was her face.  
  
Rufus smiled and pulled a few strands of mahogany hair from her face. If only she knew how he really felt about her. To him, she was a light that helped lead him from the darkness after his mother died, and also when he was under control. Even when Tifa wasn't there, her memory kept him from turning to the evil of his father's company. Not by his choice, he had betrayed her trust, yet she had still forgiven him. He loved everything about her, her optimism, her quirkiness, her athleticism, beauty... He could go on with an endless list.  
  
He kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, Tifa." He turned off the lamp and walked from the room.

oOoOoOoOo  
  
Reno yawned, walking through the mansion in an open robe and black silk boxers. No one else was up; it was around seven in the morning. Normally, he'd also still be asleep, at least till ten, but he couldn't sleep. He walked up to the front door, ready to get the newspaper, opened it wide, about to run out and run back so he wouldn't be seen in his morning attire. But as soon as he did so, he was just about blinded by a bunch of flashes. When the flashing stopped, Reno opened his eyes, seeing spots.  
  
About fifty photographers and reporters stood on the lawn.  
  
The Turk's face turned as red as his hair. "I've just been photographed in my underwear..."  
  
"Aw, it's ok guys, it's not the president. Hey, you! Bring the president out here!" A reporter cried out over the crowd.  
  
Reno grabbed the newspaper off the steps and slowly walked backwards, still stunned. Shutting the door behind him, he took a big sigh. "That has to be the freakiest thing that has ever happened to me..." He said with eyes as wide as saucers.  
  
"Hey, Ruf, you have visitors." Reno said, shaking Rufus.  
  
The latter opened an eye. "Huh?"  
  
Reno grinned. He was now fully dressed. "Hey sleeping beauty! Wake up! There are a few reporters here to see if you're truly alive."  
  
The blonde sat up. "Oh great."  
  
Tifa, awakened by the racket Reno had been making that morning, walked into the den. "What's going on?" She asked sleepily and yawned.  
  
"We've got company." Rufus replied, headed toward his room for a new change of clothes.  
  
"Who?" Tifa asked, stretching.  
  
Elena came running in. "Oh my gosh, you will never believe how many reporters are outside."

oOoOoOoOo  
  
"President ShinRa..."  
  
"It's Rufus. President Rufus if you want." He corrected.  
  
"All right, President Rufus, how did you survive the collapse of the Midgar HQ?"  
  
"I'm not sure how I survived the actually collapse, but I do know I was rescued and put into a hospital. I was in a coma for about two weeks."  
  
"Wouldn't all that rubble have crushed you? And those beams directed straight into your office? It seems impossible for you to be standing in front of us, with little apparent injury, I might add." A different reported asked.  
  
Rufus smiled. "That's my secret."  
  
The makeshift press conference went on, asking questions about how he survived, how he was going to run the company now, and why he had changed his mind.  
  
"The person that ran the company before, I'm not him anymore. I've changed my perspective. I guess being pounded by beams and rubble knocked some sense into me." He gave the reporters a grin.  
  
The two Turks stood behind Rufus while Tifa, who had borrowed clothes from Elena, stood with them, listening to every question and answer.  
  
"And who is she, President Rufus, is she a new Turk? Or perhaps she's a new First Lady?"  
  
Another reporter piped up. "Hey, she's Tifa Lockheart of AVALANCHE! Isn't she considered one of your worst enemies? Why is she here?"  
  
Rufus chuckled; Tifa took a deep breath.  
  
"Ms. Lockheart and I are making a pact. AVALANCHE shall cause no harm if ShinRa doesn't harm the planet. Seems fair."  
  
All the reporters quieted and either continued writing in their pads or packing up their camera equipment.  
  
Once everyone was gone, Reno clapped a hand on Rufus' shoulder. "Ya handled that well. Heh, but your know they're gonna write something about you and Tifa."  
  
Rufus looked at him. "And? Your point is?"  
  
"My point is, are you sure Tifa doesn't mind?"  
  
Rufus looked at his friend for a moment and took that thought.

oOoOoOoOo  
  
A/n: Ok. I'm ending this chapter here. It's starting to get a little long. It's almost double what I normally write. Anywhoo, I still say there are one or two good chapters left. I'll finish when I get back from Florida. Please Review!!


	19. Slowly Changing Lives

A/n: Ok, chapter 19. Wow, almost twenty chapters! I'm almost done. Whew. Please read and review, I still like to know how I'm doing! BTW, Florida was great!  
  
Disclaimer: Only the storyline is mine.  
  
oOoOoOo (Btw, this is my new separation line. I don't know if it'll work, cause the last one doesn't anymore -.-; ...)  
  
Elena sat at the breakfast table with Tifa. "Isn't it amazing how Rufus can go on an on like that as though he had it all planned out and written somewhere? If I did that, I'd stutter myself silly."  
  
Tifa smiled. "Yep. I've never seen a press conference before, you know, for real. Its kind of nerve wracking. I was thinking like, 'What if they ask _me_ a question?'"  
  
Elena shrugged. "Well I wonder what the press is gonna say about you and Rufus." She said, grinning into her coffee cup.  
  
Tifa raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" The question was posed with deliberate ignorance.  
  
Her friend smiled. "What I mean is, they saw the way Rufus looked at you. And I saw the way you looked at him..." She trailed off.  
  
Tifa blushed. "That was a long time ago. We're just friends now... I think."  
  
Elena rolled her eyes. "Suuuure. Tifa, I can tell you are madly in love with him. Heh, and it's definitely no secret that he's totally head over heels for you. Trust me, I've known him a long time, and he wouldn't let just anyone sleep in his bed while he sleeps on the couch."  
  
Reno walked in with a slight grin. "Hello ladies. What's up?"  
  
Elena piped up again. "We were just discussing Tifa's admirer."  
  
The redhead grinned. "Ah. Yes, what Rufus is too proud to reveal himself."  
  
Tifa was beyond red. "_He's_ the one who keeps saying _friend_! I've been scared to death all these years that he was going to be like his father and I'd lost the Rufus I knew forever. I wrote to him and didn't receive anything back. Turns out they were keeping his mail from him. Joined AVALANCHE to avenge my father and help the planet. Imagine my surprise and horror when I do see Rufus again, and he's acting like his father. But I didn't give up hope when he gave me those keys. Only once did I ever lose hope and that was a time I'd like to forget. I've felt the same way about him all along. If he feels the same he should be man enough to tell me." Satisfied, she sat back down and witnessed the surprise on her friend's faces.  
  
Reno and Elena, both with jaws dropped, first look at Tifa (or rather past Tifa), then at each other.  
  
"I... I didn't tell you because I was ...scared of how you'd react. I didn't know you felt the same way. You're the only one I've ever had this feeling about, I didn't know how to deal with it." A voice behind Tifa made her jump and turn nearly maroon.  
  
She hadn't meant for him to hear that... She turned around and Rufus stood there, half smiling at her.  
  
"It's hard for me... All my life, I was raised to ignore emotion. And for the longest time, that once emotion wouldn't leave me alone. ...Forgive me... for not realizing it sooner." Rufus said gently, slowly putting aside his pride to get out his feelings. Its funny how easy it was to dish out sarcasm, but when it came to being the first to reveal his feelings or admitting he was wrong, he was always too proud to let it come out.  
  
Elena and Reno backed slowly and quietly out the door, not wanting to ruin the moment.  
  
Tifa smiled back up at Rufus. "I'll forgive you." She said, grabbing his hand. "This time." She added slyly.  
  
oOoOoOo  
  
That night, Tifa was invited to stay and watch the press conference on T.V.  
  
Reno turned on the news, eager to see how bad the press twisted Rufus words. To their surprise, the only thing they twisted was Tifa's reason for being at the ShinRa mansion.  
  
One reporter gave his take, "Rufus ShinRa seems to have an eye for beautiful women not unlike his father. His reason for having the young AVALANCHE female at the mansion that early in the morning was this," The reporter paused to show Rufus tell the press, "Ms. Lockheart and I are making a pact. AVALANCHE shall cause no harm to ShinRa if ShinRa does not harm the planet. Seems fair." The reporter continued. "Seems to me that the 'pact' includes a little more than peace. AVALANCHE was a pretty violent little terrorist group. I hope President Rufus knows what he's getting into."  
  
"They make me sound like I'm an evil seductress. It's not like we were blowing up reactors for no reason." Tifa said, sighing heavily. "And that remark they made about you having an eye for beautiful women like your dad, them make it sound like you're obsessed with a lot of women. I was the only girl there besides Elena, and she's your sister!" She finished, shaking her head in disgust.  
  
Rufus smiled. "Tifa, don't worry about it. People don't care about that kind of stuff. We'll prove them wrong. We'll show them together." He said, kissing the top of her head as she leaned it on his shoulder.  
  
oOoOoOo  
  
Two months later, in a rebuilt ShinRa building in what was being constructed as "New Midgar"  
  
Elena knocked on Tifa's bedroom door. "Tifa, Rufus wants to see you in his office."  
  
This brunette raised an eyebrow and put down the book she was reading. Usually, Rufus was very busy during the day, especially since he was rebuilding the company. "What could he need me for?" She thought as she walked toward the President's office. When she arrived after a surprisingly short elevator ride, she knocked lightly on the large doors.  
  
"Come in." A deep voice commanded.  
  
She walked in and continued towards the huge oak desk, stopping beside the large office chair. "Yes, you called your highness?" She said sarcastically as she kissed the young president's cheek, making him smile involuntarily.  
  
This reminded him of their 'first date', making him smile all the wider. "Tifa, how would you feel if, let's say, you were promoted?"  
  
Really quirking an eyebrow, she giggled. "I think you're forgetting that I don't work here, Rufus."  
  
Smiling, he stood up and looked into her wine colored depths. "You don't have to work here to be know as the 'First Lady'. ... After all these years of friendship and strong feelings, you never lost hope in me, even through the hard times. That's why I know that this would work, because I know you love me as much as I love you. ...Tifa, will you marry me?" Once again, a perfect speech came from nowhere as Rufus pulled out a small velvet box and opened it before Tifa.  
  
Tifa's face flushed and tears came to her eyes. Her mouth dropped open and her eyebrows rose with surprise. No doubt about it, Rufus was back and he wasn't going to leave her again. "Yes... Yes I will!" She exclaimed, rushing to hug him and in the process knocked them both down.  
  
Rufus, laughing, looked up at the beautiful, smiling young woman that was to become his wife, and for once, he was truly happy with his life.  
  
"Uh, maybe I should come back at another time..." Reno's voice made the two jump.  
  
Tifa quickly stood up off of Rufus and helped him up.  
  
Laughing, Reno put some papers on Rufus' desk. "Sorry to interrupt your little 'meeting', but the press is wanting the latest details on the business."  
  
Rufus brushed himself off and grinned at Reno. "I'll be out in a minute."  
  
Reno rolled his eyes, and shaking his head, walked out the door.  
  
Tifa smirked. "Just a minute?"  
  
Rufus shook his head, smiling and pulled his new fiancé to him. "Maybe a bit longer than a minute."  
  
oOoOoOo  
  
A/n: Ok. This chapter was short because I needed to cut it off before the epilogue chapter. I can't believe I'm almost done... Oo I've been working on this for a year! Anywhoo, I'm just about done. The epilogue chapter should be kinda short too. Please Review guys!!  
  
Kage3 


	20. The End?

A/n: Holy crap! I'm writing the epilogue! I'm one chapter away from being finished! (Gasp) I'm sure I'll be writing more fics, but this was the granddaddy of all my fics. And it was my first... Please review, please please!!  
  
Disclaimer: Only the storyline is mine.  
  
oOoOoOo  
  
A ray of sunshine woke Tifa; she yawned and stretched, careful not to wake the sleeping form beside her. She listened to his steady breathing and leaned over him, watching him sleep. She ran her fingers through his silky blonde hair, and watching him smile in his slumber. He was so adorable when he was sleeping.  
  
The bedroom door slowly opened. "Tifa, you awake?" Rufus poked his head in the doorway and watched the scene, smiling.  
  
Tifa looked up at her husband. "I didn't even realize he had crawled into bed with us last night. He must've had a nightmare." She slowly looked back at her sleeping two and a half year old son.  
  
Rufus shook his head. "Either that or Rachael told him another horror story."  
  
Tifa grinned. "I think she needs to quit hanging around Reno."  
  
The little boy asleep beside Tifa suddenly woke up, bright, cheery crimson eyes filled with sudden fear. "Mommy! Wachael tol' me anover ghost stowy!"  
  
Tifa shook her head. "I swear."  
  
Rufus smiled, then quirking an eyebrow, tuned to look behind him outside the bedroom.  
  
"Hi daddy. I just had breakfast. Is mommy in your room?" A tiny blonde girl tugged on Rufus' sleeve.  
  
"Yes, sweetheart, but first, what did I tell you about telling Daniel those stories?"  
  
Rachael looked uncomfortably at her father with sapphire eyes. "Uh... not to?"  
  
"Right. Don't make me tell you again young lady." He said with a stern look.  
  
"Yes, daddy." She responded with a bright smile. She was an adorable four year old with her father's eye and hair color, but her mother's facial features.  
  
Rufus' daddy-look broke down and melted into a smile. "Go on." He told his daughter, opening the door for her.  
  
She ran straight to the bed and jumped up onto it. "Mommy, what's this?" She asked Tifa, showing her a glove-like thing with metal on the knuckles.  
  
Memories flooded Tifa. She laughed. "This is very old, where did you find it?"  
  
"Uncle Reno was going through some boxes and found it, told me to show it to you."  
  
Her mother smiled. "Well, it's an old martial arts glove. I'm sure they've improved them."  
  
Rufus sat down on the bed next to his wife and gave her a kiss good morning. "So, how is the new addition to the family?" He asked, putting a hand on Tifa's growing belly.  
  
Daniel carefully crawled up to his mother's side and put an ear to her stomach, listening for either kicks or a heart beat, but his expression of determination with his tongue stuck out, listening hard, made Rufus and Tifa chuckle.  
  
"I think she's just fine."  
  
"Oh, it's a she now?"  
  
Tifa smiled a swung her feet out of the bed, letting them hang above the carpeted floor. "Yes, I can feel it."  
  
Rachael stood up on the bed and toddled to her father and hopped onto his back, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck.  
  
Rufus smiled and grabbed his four-year-old daughter and started to tickle her mercilessly.  
  
Little Daniel sat down in his mother's lap.  
  
The door opened wider and a small head poked around to peek at what was going on. Flaming red hair mad the little character hard to miss.  
  
Once away from her daddy's tortuous tickling, still laughing, she pointed to the door. "Faith! You're supposed to be with the rest of your brothers and sisters!" Rachael scolded and ran to the door to pick up the red kitten.  
  
A young boy of about five opened the door. "I brought her up here Rachael." The young boy had red hair, about as red as the kitten's he held. His soulful brown eyes sparkled with mischief.  
  
"And why are you up here?" A taller version of the boy asked in a demanding tone.  
  
The boy looked up at his father. "...Uh, did I say brought? I meant chased her up here..."  
  
Tifa laughed. "Reno, I think Hunter is your clone."  
  
The taller redhead laughed. "Yeah, well, Daniel is a close match for Rufus, too. By the way, I followed this rascal up here when Dark Nation and Red XIII started freaking out that their kittens were gone to play hide and go seek. Hunter, your mom wants you."  
  
The young Reno look-alike suddenly looked very frightened.  
  
Faith purred in Rachael's arms, her emerald green eyes almost laughing at Hunter.  
  
"Now we have to round up the rest of them. Come on kids, let's go find 'em." Reno said, motioning for all the kids to follow him.  
  
Hunter, Daniel, and Rachael with Faith in arm followed Reno out the door, leaving Rufus alone with Tifa.  
  
He lay back on the bed, arms behind his head, giving a huge sigh.  
  
Tifa followed suit and laid her head on his chest.  
  
Rufus kissed the top of her head, and brought an arm around her shoulder, caressing her arm. "You know, I'm still getting used to this 'daddy' thing. I just hope I'm never like my father when it comes to raising kids."  
  
Tifa looked up at him, smiled and gave him a warm kiss. "Sweetheart, you will never have to worry about that. You're a great dad."  
  
He turned to face her and kissed her soft lips. He thought about his friends and family, knowing that this was the one thing he missed when he was a child: Happiness. After his mom died, there was none of it. But as if it were fate, he met a little girl two months later who changed his life. This little girl laid beside him now, a beautiful woman, wife and wonderful mother of two beautiful children and another on the way.  
  
He now had what he needed, and he thanked God that Tifa had still kept faith in him when he was out of control. Her fire and optimism had melted his ice and despair, and he was finally fulfilled.  
  
His kissed his lifelong companion once again, reminded of what he had to go through to get to this point in life. He knew he had something now that he never would have experienced without Tifa, Elena, Reno, or his children: Love.  
  
oOoOoOo A/n: Oh my gosh. I'm finished... Twenty chapters, and I'm finished! I finished a fic! (Celebrates) Guys, I really need you to review, even if it's the whole fic in retrospect. Please tell me what you think. Thanks, and thanks to everyone who read this fic to the end! Luv ya!  
  
Kage3 


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